


Let Your Empire Fall

by ColdFan



Series: Captain Cold Meets His Match [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Additional Canon Characters…who will not yet be named so as not to totally ruin the mystery…, Banter, Captain! there be (AU) Legends here!, Earth 2 Harry Wells sticks around indefinitely, F/M, Leonard Snart is a criminal badass…but sometimes he just wants to chill out, Lewis Snart’s A+ parenting, Mick and Lisa are not in all chapters but tend to steal all their scenes, References to Past Child Abuse, Rogues and AU Legends and Team Flash are not in all chapters, Romance, Smut, and Firestorm doesn’t exist, at least not in the sense that it does on the Arrowverse shows, author’s ongoing attempts at humour and punning, blink and you might miss it, but are integral to the story…especially toward the end, except Flashpoint-Savitar-Rip recruiting the Legends in early 2016-and HR never happened, lots and lots of banter, occasional language, references to human trafficking and sex trafficking, some angst but not too much, some scenes of canon typical violence, sticks mostly to canon including timelines, the spirit of Mick insisted on writing all his own lines so he gets a writing credit, very mild BDSM reference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:46:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 87,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23490064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColdFan/pseuds/ColdFan
Summary: Captain Cold has been at the top of his game for a very long time…and he likes it that way. Thing is, while he may be reluctant to admit it, he likes a worthy challenge and an exciting change of pace even more.After laying low in Aruba with Mick and Lisa for six months in the wake of Mardon breaking him out of prison, Len returns to Central City with a plan for how to live his life a bit differently. While casing a new type of target, he runs into an unexpected opportunity. One thing leads to another and before he knows it, Len finds himself up against a monster even worse than his father. Good thing he’s decided working with a bunch of hero minded do-gooder types may not be quite as terrible as he’s always imagined.The increasingly close relationship he's developing with his very favourite ‘fradversary’ also sweetens the deal considerably.
Relationships: Leonard Snart/Original Female Character
Series: Captain Cold Meets His Match [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1635172
Comments: 34
Kudos: 19





	1. Partners in Crime

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Part 2 of ‘Captain Cold Meets His Match’! I’m really sorry for the delay in starting to post this but I’m working from home for the first time ever due to Covid 19 and it’s been very challenging. I hope you’re all okay and staying healthy and safe out there! 
> 
> If you’ve read Part 1, I hope you enjoyed it and that you also enjoy this continuation of the story. Part 2 is quite different from Part 1 in some ways (it’s basically a lot steamier and has more action and deals with more serious themes) but it shares most of the same characters and essential elements. If you haven’t read Part 1 (The Fate of Every Snowflake is to Melt) that would definitely give you helpful background to the main relationship and action in the story but if you feel like just jumping into this part, that could possibly work too. You’d just be missing the whole slow-burn set up. 
> 
> Just a heads up, the main villain in this story is a very, very bad person who is a ringleader in one of the worst, most harmful forms of criminality, i.e. human / sex trafficking. I just wanted to give a heads up in case that could be a triggering set of issues for some people. Most of the story doesn’t get into a lot of detail about it but it is certainly referred to a number of times. I will also give another heads up in the beginning chapter notes when there is a particularly disturbing scene in one of the later chapters.
> 
> One more note, just so you know, the first four chapters of this part feature the main two characters (Leonard and Rowan) and focus on their relationship development. Subsequent chapters include other canon characters.
> 
> The story is finished so I will try my best to post a chapter every second or third day. 
> 
> A very big thank you to my good friend Jorge for beta reading this entire, very long story!
> 
> And finally, thanks to DC and Greg Berlanti et al for the characters and source material and special thanks to all the actors for their amazing portrayals of canon characters; especially Wentworth Miller, whose brilliant and nuanced interpretation of Leonard Snart / Captain Cold inspired this whole crazy thing…but the story itself and original characters are mine, for better or for worse. (:
> 
> Without further adieu, off we go! Yay!!! (:

Len eyed the scene laid out before him warily and with a certain resigned melancholy, much like a cat eyeing its carrier case as its human prepped it for a trip to the vet.

Len disliked large gatherings in general and contrived party settings in particular. 

Still, he could work any room and play any role he needed to if it served a useful end, so he quickly sized up the scene and strode confidently into it, his finely honed air of calm, collected nonchalance laced with only a hint of menace.

The house he was in was huge, mansion like, with all the fancy-schmancy interior decorating that Len associated with the whole self-important, self-appointed ‘elite’ criminal crowd. Every ostentatious move they made seemed to be designed to say, ‘Check me out, I’m a successful, important shit-turd who should really have been thrown in jail for good a long time ago but never will be due to all the usual corrupt connections’.

As always, Len had done his homework on this particular shit-turd so he was pretty well up on all the shady, unethical and downright dirty dealings the guy was into. 

Len didn’t have qualms about stealing anything at all from the rich and powerful in general, but he felt an immense and heightened sense of satisfaction at the thought of stealing high-end, luxury items from total jack-off douche-bags of the sort he was about to rip off. 

Though the setting was decidedly off-putting, Len figured the job itself should prove enjoyable.

Having been back in Central City for a few weeks now after his extended stay in Aruba with Lisa and Mick, he’d resolved to take a lay of the land before pulling off anything too spectacular. Len was also playing with some new ideas about what kind of heists he wanted to execute from here on out and saw this current mini-project as a kind of test run.

His unwitting target had actually invited Len into his home, setting up the perfect cover for a useful reconnaissance mission. Len would work the room, play the moody, self-interested master criminal and then go for a discreet walkabout to familiarise himself with the place in preparation for his return visit.

The event was a kind of felon’s meet-and-greet, a sort of who’s who of Central City’s well-established underground network of organised criminality. 

It was a catered affair with several tables ladened with gourmet appetizers, an open bar and one of those odd ice sculptures that didn’t seem to serve any real purpose except to say, ‘Yeah, I’m one of those idiots who can afford to pay a lot of money for something that looks great at the start of the night and is mostly a soppy mess by the end of it.’

Still, Captain Cold smiled to himself when he saw the ice was carved into the shape of a gun. If it wasn’t purposely meant to flatter him in particular, he still had a brief feeling that he was exactly where he should be at this specific moment in his life. 

The irony that Len was there with the sole intent to rip off the very same person who’d paid for the silly thing was not lost on him either.

As Len slowly meandered further into the room, he continued to coolly take in the scene and the people populating it, positioning himself off to one side so he could more easily keep an eye on the entire space. 

The main room was large and pretty full of people, mostly men. Len’s gaze came to land on and then meet that of the man who had invited him. The latter, named Bancroft, responded with a look of sly self-satisfaction, promptly wrapping up the conversation he’d just been having with two other men. He then walked directly over to Len.

“ _Cold_ , so glad you could make it!” 

The man oozed sleaze as he greeted Len with an unpleasant leer and a nod. He gestured to the assorted other ne’er-do-wells scattered throughout the room with the drink he held in one hand. 

“Told you it would be worth coming. There are a lot of people here I think you’ll want to meet.”

‘Yeah, like hell,’ Len thought. He recognised a few low level thugs and some more seasoned criminals but most of the crowd was unfamiliar to him. As he’d anticipated, these weren’t really his kind of people. From the decidedly slimy vibes he was getting from all directions, he was comfortable taking a hard pass on the lot of them.

Although his recent reflections had led him to conclude that, for better or worse, he was a thief through and through at this point, Len held himself in a different class than the mostly conscienceless, privileged idiots likely to be in this crowd. Deep down he wasn’t so sure anymore if he was really that bad a guy and, in settings like this, he was almost certain he wasn’t.

He let Bancroft babble on for a while, occasionally giving an interested sounding, if somewhat curt, response as he played the role of someone who actually gave a damn about being on the radar of the self-appointed criminal upper-class of Central City. 

Len was so accustomed to playing people when he wanted to he could turn on the charm that both men and women found fascinating and often irresistible and then switch into ‘Mr. Ice Cold ruthless, you’d better be a fast runner’ mode while expending almost no effort at all.

Currently, he was in a kind of neutral mode, angling to come across as a stable, dependable part of Central City’s elite underworld, committed to criminality in all its forms but harmless enough to fellow criminals, as long as they stayed out of his way. 

And, yeah, he was in no way interested in ripping any of them off either. Sure.

Len continued to half listen and respond when necessary to his host for a few minutes while simultaneously scanning the crowd for random pickpocket opportunities, mostly out of habit. Suddenly Bancroft reached out and caught the arm of one of the few women at the party who was passing by as they talked.

“Cold, I need to go and check in with a few of my other guests…but I think you’ll find Amber here fine company.” The man’s face took on an even slyer and, Len thought, unattractive quality as he almost yanked the woman he’d called Amber around to face him.

Len had to quickly ensure that the abrupt jolt of surprise he experienced didn’t register at all in his expression as he suddenly found himself standing face-to-face with none other than the woman he’d thought about rather consistently the whole time he’d been in Aruba and had been attempting to check in with over the last week or so now that he was settled back in Central but with no luck so far…well, until now, apparently.

Len’s eye’s flicked down instinctively to hide his reaction but immediately flicked up again to meet Rowan’s gaze full on. There was no mistaking the delicately shaped, expressive eyes that had so often peered up at him before; sometimes playfully, often brimming with exasperation, at times seriously and, occasionally, full of curiosity.

Only tonight, they were framed by fairly heavy black eyeliner and set in a face ablaze with red-toned make up, well applied but somewhat jarring considering it was a face Len was used to seeing entirely bare of it.

If Rowan was just as surprised to see Len she didn’t betray it either. Their host had been obliviously making ‘introductions’ while Len and Rowan cautiously took in each other’s rather startling and unexpected presence. Len snapped back to attention, however, at Bancroft’s next words.

“Amber, this is one of my most important guests here tonight. I trust you’ll take _very_ good care of him.” The man gave them both a lecherous kind of smile, the tawdry implication all too obvious.

Len was relieved to be rid of the creep as Bancroft sauntered away, allowing him to focus his whole attention on Rowan who, along with the make-up, was wearing an extremely form fitting satiny red mini-dress, with black trim and two black straps framing a truly impressive amount of cleavage. 

Her look was rounded out by an elegant black choker with a single red stone set in the middle of it (that looked to Len like a garnet) and black sky-high strappy heels; the kind Len’s sister liked to wear.

Considering he had only ever seen Rowan in much more casual and down-to-earth clothing that showed a lot less skin, he had to admit to being more than a little blown away as he stood marvelling at how conventionally beautiful and sexy she looked, and at the mysterious mechanics of female couture.

Len couldn’t help noticing how strong and fit Rowan was when she’d taken down the dog abusing assholes that time many months ago now. He had mostly been impressed that day by her advanced level of martial arts skills, however, during all his exchanges with her since then, he’d been finding her more and more physically attractive.

The get-up she was rocking at the moment though had taken the smoking hot factor up several notches…actually through the roof. Len had a weakness for women with well-toned biceps and calf muscles, which he noted Rowan definitely had. 

Appearances and conventions and clothes and what have you didn’t usually sway Len one way or another, but every now and again the stars and planets aligned and he was just as swayed by such things as anyone else might be. He had to admit to himself, this was turning out to be one such occasion. 

He suddenly felt a lot…warmer than he had mere seconds before.

He regarded Rowan for a few more moments, waiting for Bancroft to move far enough away so he wouldn’t overhear any part of their conversation. Rowan, for her part, held Len’s gaze and smiled cryptically, her eyes darting to the right to watch Bancroft depart, then flicking down briefly before flicking back up and locking eyes with Len again.

Up until this surprise chance meeting, Len had started to wonder if Rowan was out of town, he’d been having such a hard time tracking her down. The more pessimistic part of his mind had started to worry that something bad might have happened to her, which would likely necessitate him having to check in with Barry and Team Flash, of all people, to see if they knew where she’d gotten to.

In light of this unexpected windfall, Len allowed a rather gleeful smirk to permeate his features as the initial shock wore off and he began to enjoy the serendipitous moment of finding Rowan on his own, without any help from the most irritating of Central’s goody-goody hero-types. 

He eased closer to her so that his back was to the crowded room, suddenly feeling very playful, if still extremely surprised. He leaned toward her slowly and tilted his head, eyes glinting.

“My, my, my…look who cleans up all _sexy_!” 

Len’s voice was low but his ultra-deliberate Captain Cold drawl ensured every syllable was superbly enunciated. He smiled inwardly at the immediate, if slight, blush he’d elicited on Rowan’s face.

“I must say, of all the ways I imagined you might be spending your free time getting into mischief while I was away, _this_ would have been my _very_ last guess.”

The look of contained but substantial annoyance that crossed Rowan’s face amused Len and only served to egg him on in his teasing. 

“Offering yourself up as a criminal’s plaything…I didn’t think that was your style Ro. But hey, I don’t judge.”

Len was suddenly enjoying himself far more than he ever thought possible at this rather pathetic affair. He topped his cheeky opening salvos off with his deepest smirk yet as he searched Rowan’s face for some sign of distress or concern that she’d been made by a criminal in a room full of criminals, and he could, if he chose to, out her at any time.

Not that he would, of course, but still. It was a welcome reversal of roles, as Rowan had had Len up against it in several of their previous exchanges, so finally having her in an awkward position was refreshing, if only in jest.

He sensed an almost imperceptible hint of alarm; heightened stress at the very least. But Rowan was just as smooth an operator as Len and settled into their rather extraordinary and unforeseen situation with barely a discernible ripple.

“Funny, I wouldn’t have thought this was quite _your_ crowd either…but then you are still a self-proclaimed and unrepentant criminal so I don’t know why I’m so surprised to see you here.” She waved her hand subtly at the room with what Len interpreted to be a well-controlled gesture of contempt.

He thought he detected a touch of disappointment in Rowan’s eyes, like she had thought Len better than this crowd too…or maybe that was just his imagination getting the better of him. Or was it wishful thinking? 

He had been away for quite a while. Perhaps whatever rapport they’d been starting to build had weakened in the interim and Rowan wasn’t quite as keen to give him the benefit of the doubt as she had been before.

Len might have to work on that.

She was doing a truly impressive job of playing the flirty, eye candy role with her face and body language for the benefit of anyone who might be watching but Len was perceptive enough to see that there was some urgency behind the play acting so he decided to be nice for once and cut to the chase.

He moved closer again, making sure no one around them was within earshot and hissed in a low voice, “This _isn’t_ my crowd but I have my own reasons for being here as I’m guessing you do too so how about you finally let me in on what you’re up to and in return I don’t inadvertently alert our rather unappealing host to the fact that your name _isn’t_ Amber and you’re not…well, whatever it is you’re pretending to be right now.”

Len involuntarily looked Rowan up and down when he said the last bit, as he still found it a little hard to believe he’d just happened to stumble across her looking so purposely alluring, in this awful man’s house of all places.

Rowan looked pointedly into Len’s eyes. Her gaze held a certain amount of scepticism that Len was no longer used to seeing there, at least not since she’d saved his life and they’d had a chance to talk about a few fairly personal things. 

It seemed clear to Len as their eyes remained locked for several seconds that his time away had indeed affected Rowan’s ability to trust him. He also realised that what he’d just said may have sounded a lot more like a threat than he’d actually meant it to.

He was about to say something less provocative to smooth things over but Rowan’s expression shifted at that moment and she beat him to it, seeming to come to a decision about how to proceed.

“If you’re sure that’s what you want…” 

Rowan framed her words as a statement but seemed to mean it more as a question.  


Len obliged with a subtle nod and let his face settle into a neutral expression. He hadn’t expected Rowan to agree so quickly, but it was likely far better for both of them if they quickly learned what the other was up to or they’d be in serious danger of tripping each other up.

Len didn’t like surprises or unanticipated wild cards getting in the way of a well planned job, even a small one, and as much as he was genuinely happy and excited to see Rowan, he had a feeling her plans for the night were likely far more vulnerable to unforeseen complications than his were.

She regarded him a few moments longer, looked away and then took a deep breath, exhaled and met Len’s eyes again. 

She leaned toward him and said softly, “You need to interact with me exactly as you would if I really was some random woman named Amber you’d never seen before who has just been tasked with making sure you enjoy this party.”

She paused and moved closer to Len in a somewhat suggestive way. “Can you do that?” She was smiling but her eyes were suddenly very serious, seeming to search Len’s for his true thoughts and intentions.

He felt a jolt of exhilaration at thoughts that were suddenly racing unbidden through his mind of all the fun he could have making the most of this totally unlikely scenario. Len quickly had to reel himself in and focus on how he really would react to Rowan if he didn’t already know her and wasn’t already interested in and attracted to her which, if there’d been any remaining doubt in his mind whatsoever, was now _thoroughly_ impossible to deny.

He reflected for a few moments before deciding how to proceed because he didn’t want to mess up this chance that had been dropped out of nowhere into his lap to finally get some more details on precisely what this mysterious woman was actually up to and all about. 

Len was pretty sure his reputation was that of a man who didn’t allow himself to be easily played or pegged and generally kept any personal or sexual interactions he might have to himself and out of the public eye. Still, it wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility that he might, on occasion, avail himself of an enjoyable opportunity placed right in front of him.

At the same time, all joking around aside, he had always been very careful in his life not to take advantage of women, for a whole host of reasons; not least being he thought such behaviour was pretty much the lowest any man could sink to. He certainly had no desire to take advantage of Rowan, especially under circumstances he didn’t fully understand…or understand at all.

The situation he’d stumbled into felt exceptional, however, and though it wasn’t entirely without issues, going all out on this one might actually be what Rowan needed to maintain her cover. 

Sure, in that case Len could do her that favour. He was feeling somewhat heady and unusually magnanimous after all.

After the few moments it took for Len to sort through all those thoughts in his mind, he uncharacteristically simply said, “Okay,” tilting his head slightly and allowing a small upturning of his lips.

He still had a million questions as to how they’d found themselves in this unlikely scenario but he decided to set them all aside for the time being and sort everything out with Rowan later. 

Their eyes relocked at his response and Len felt a thrilling surge of heat ignite between them.

He moved even closer to her and gently grazed his fingers across Rowan’s cheek, almost startled by how soft her skin was. He let them trace a delicate path to her neck and then up to rest underneath her chin, slowly coaxing it upward as he leaned down and gingerly kissed her in what he tried to project outward as an exploratory kind of way. It helped that that’s also what it was in reality.

Even though he’d telecasted his actions, Rowan seemed to tense slightly as his lips met hers, but then she relaxed and opened easily to Len’s tongue as he casually but purposefully flicked it into her warm mouth.

Len had imagined kissing Rowan a few…well…quite a few times by now, but he’d never once imagined they’d have an audience for their first kiss. It would never have been his first choice but, as he gently continued to explore her very warm mouth and she met his explorations with those of her own, the room around them seemed to fall away and Len found he didn’t give a damn who saw them or what they thought about it.

Suddenly all that mattered was that he was finally doing something he’d wanted to for what seemed like ages; and it was even better than he’d imagined it would be. There was a tenderness to their physical connection that felt totally genuine and belied the otherwise contrived circumstances they'd found themselves in.

It felt dreamlike...probably at least partially because it had been so long since they’d seen each other and now, all of a sudden, all physical barriers seemed to be falling away. Len had trouble admitting these things, even to himself, but yeah…as fun as his vacation had been, he’d really missed Rowan while he’d been in Aruba.

Len let his fingertips trace another delicate line from her chin along her neck to her shoulder and he placed his other hand at the small of her back, pressing gently, pulling her in closer for a few moments, before reluctantly disengaging his lips from hers and stepping back to look at her.

He caught his breath, staring intently into Rowan’s eyes as she once again gazed just as intensely back into his. 

He leaned down, drawling softly in her ear, “That should be enough of a show to avoid any questions as to why we’re about to leave the room together.” 

His words made it sound as if he’d done all he just had only to cement the subterfuge they’d agreed to...but his playful, glinting and still dilated eyes suggested otherwise.

As for Rowan, Len was satisfied to note her look of slight breathlessness and the flush in her cheeks after he pulled away from her. He couldn’t be 100% sure, but he sensed their kiss had been more than just a means to an end for her too and she had been sensually affected by it. That was at least a _little_ bit encouraging.

Rowan quickly composed herself, however, and flashed Len a flirtatious smile before taking his hand and confidently leading him out of the main party room and down a short hallway that opened up into a vestibule with a grand staircase leading off in two directions at the central landing.

Two tuxedoed men who were obviously part of Bancroft’s security crew stood at the foot of the staircase but they didn’t take much notice of Rowan and Len as she led him up the stairs, moving her hips sensually as she climbed them, looking back at Len once or twice with a coquettish expression. 

Without hesitation she took the right turn at the landing and, at the top of the secondary flight, started down a hallway that had several closed doors on either side of it.

They could hear some muffled voices and laughter from behind some of the doors, which Rowan passed quickly as if she knew exactly where she was headed. At the end of the hallway she paused outside a door and looked around to make sure no one saw them. Then she opened it and pulled Len inside with her.

To say that he was disappointed with the surroundings he now found himself in would be a significant understatement. Instead of a room with a bed and other helpful amenities they stood on a poorly lit landing at the top of another stairway, only this was an old, unadorned cement one that led downwards into what appeared to be a dusty, seldom used basement.

Rowan closed the door softly and guided Len about halfway down the stairs before stopping and turning to face him. She whispered, “We need to double back to the other wing of the house but that area’s supposed to be off limits tonight so we need to be careful not to be seen.”

Rowan appraised Len, apparently wanting to ensure he was still on board.

“Where exactly are you trying to get to?” Len asked, trying to keep his mind from wandering to what they could be doing in this nice private place, up against the wall for example, with no pesky onlookers. 

Rowan was all business now though, betraying no hint of even remembering that they’d just shared a kiss; a _very_ nice one at that, from Len’s point of view anyway.

“Bancroft has a home office where he keeps his most compromising business records locked away and I need to get into it, find some very specific documents and copy them, obviously without being caught. It’s at the far end of the house, which we can reach using this back stairway. If we meet any security along the way…I guess it’s obvious how we should play that.” 

Rowan looked down, turning her face away and Len thought he detected a slight blush to her skin in the dim light.

Len’s features softened and his expression approached a genuine smile. He hoped Rowan wasn’t unhappy or uncomfortable with the situation they’d stumbled into but…as long as she was okay with it he hoped to hell they met multiple lines of security. 

As luck would have it, which strangely seemed to be on Len’s side today, the office Rowan described was also the room Len had been hoping to get a peek at because, according to his intel, it held the safe he needed to open in order to grab the expensive bauble he was planning to steal. He wondered if he could save himself a second trip and just swipe it while Rowan found her marks.

As Len followed her to the bottom of the stairs and across the dusty basement floor he leaned more and more toward that plan, even though it could lead to suspicion falling on him for the lift. For some reason, he was starting to feel like he would _really_ rather not return to this place once he and Rowan made their escape.

Funny how he’d already started to think of them as partners in crime. It was a surprisingly easy fit, considering they were usually on opposing sides of the law and hadn’t even seen each other in half a year.

Len felt an excitement rising within him that he hadn’t experienced in a long time. Usually his heists were carefully orchestrated strategic masterpieces planned down to the last second, not impromptu team-ups figured out on the fly. 

Of all the people in the world Len had ever met, he never once would have dreamed Rowan would be the person he’d end up making an exception for, especially at this stage of his career.

As Len observed her walking carefully in front of him in her steaming hot get up, however, he decided that his behaviour at the moment made perfect sense.

They quietly made their way up the opposite staircase. Len couldn’t help but notice that Rowan seemed more…tense overall, and emotionally closed to him than he remembered her ever being, at least since their first confrontation in his studio, well over a year ago now. 

He wasn’t sure if it was the context and the potential danger of the situation or if it was…something else. He hoped he’d have a chance to figure out where they stood now after his time away before the night was done. 

Rowan and Len managed to get all the way up the staircase to the other wing of the house without running into anyone. Bancroft, oddly, must not have been worried about anyone misusing the back staircases. Len had the building plans to the house so he knew there was no indication of this secret back passageway anywhere on them.

When they reached the door to the hallway that would lead them to Bancroft’s office, Rowan stopped, speaking softly under her breath.

“This is where we’re most likely to get caught. I can’t imagine Bancroft wouldn’t have significantly increased security on this wing for the party so…well, my plan to play dumb and attempt to seduce any guards I came across won’t work now if you come with me so…any ideas?”

Len felt a surge of satisfaction that he’d prevented Rowan from having to cosy up to any obtuse security thugs, but the possible presence of guards on the other side of the door did present a serious logistical problem to be solved.

He hadn’t necessarily planned to scope out the office itself unless a convenient opportunity arose; he’d been rather more interested in getting a visual sense of the overall layout of the house and outdoor and indoor security systems. 

Fortunately, as committed to careful planning as Len was, he was also extremely adept at improvising when necessary.

“I’d say the best way to play this is as we have been, with the caveat that if we do encounter anyone at any point out there, the story is I dragged you over here in search of an empty room against your protests that we weren’t supposed to be here ‘cause I’m generally a jerk who does what I want and doesn’t care anything for anyone else’s rules. Everyone will believe that unquestioningly.”

Len employed an especially tired, long suffering tone as he spoke, conveying a sense of tedium at how easily people believed his piss ass tough guy persona, regardless of the circumstances.

Rowan was able to look directly into Len’s eyes despite the height he had on her because she was standing on a higher step than he was, and due to her heels. She looked thoughtful for a moment and then looked down, nodding her head.

“That might just work…and I have no better ideas.” She looked back at Len and smiled a small but genuine smile, perhaps the first one of those, Len thought, since they’d been thrust together by timing and circumstance downstairs at the party.

“Thanks,” Rowan said softly.

Before Len could say anything else Rowan continued.

“The good news is that I have some sense of how Bancroft distributes his security guys and today I think he’s actually more concerned about his party being crashed by some thugs he’s on the outs with so there may not be as many up here as there could be. Also, on the plus side, the room we need to get to is just around the corner once we’re out in the hallway so it’s not like there’s a huge window of time for anyone to see us, as long as there are no guards posted outside the office door”.

“Or inside the office,” Len stated pessimistically. “What about cameras and alarms?”

“I’ve dealt with those already,” Rowan replied, somewhat briskly. Len would have to ask her for more details later. “The door will be locked with a digital keypad and a traditional deadbolt,” Rowan continued, “but I can easily deal with those”.

Len looked sideways at Rowan and narrowed his eyes as she mounted the last few steps and pressed her ear to the door that led to the hallway.

“Ahem.” Len cleared his throat deliberately. “Although I’ve experienced your _impressive_ B&E proficiency first-hand Ro, if anyone’s going to be picking locks and jumping alarms I really think it should be me. I mean I’m pretty sure I have _some_ experience on you in terms of breaking and entering…no offence.”

Len hadn’t meant to sound quite so touchy but he was a bit nonplussed at the thought of someone other than himself being the first choice front line in a straightforward break and enter. 

Rowan turned and stared at him for several seconds, her fairly neutral expression morphing into one betraying clear amusement.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to offend _you_ Len. By all means do the honours if you must. I’ll show you the code for the digital lock though when we’re out there. One wrong entry triggers an alarm.”

Perhaps it was illogical, but Len had been truly surprised and slightly put out at Rowan’s suggestion that she would be the one to get them inside. Was he being too agreeable to the point she was forgetting how good a criminal he was? He’d better watch that. 

Damn dress Rowan was wearing. It had clearly clouded his whole approach to this situation and was still distracting him way too much. He resolved to clear his head for the next while in case he actually had to make any important decisions.

Just as Rowan nodded to Len and was about to open the door to step out into the hallway, they heard a commotion on the other side of it. A male voice barked, “Intruder in C3, everyone get downstairs now!”

Wow! Could they really be that lucky? Len was starting to get suspicious. He was used to unplanned stuff cropping up and compromising or even ruining a job, not making it easier.

They waited several seconds and heard nothing more, so slowly and carefully they emerged from the basement. The hallway was deserted and quiet. Len closed the door behind them soundlessly and Rowan led him around the corner.

They both let out a low breath when they saw no guards at the office door. Rowan motioned for Len to do his thing and seemed about to give the digital code to him but instead he held up a hand to stop her. He’d since decided he’d like to see up close and personal just how good Rowan was, so he shook his head and whispered, “Changed my mind. It’s all yours.”

Rowan looked puzzled and slightly exasperated but quickly entered the code that she obviously knew by heart into the keypad mounted by the side of the door. She then crouched down and had the deadbolt picked in 10 seconds flat. Len had no idea where she drew her lock pick from and also missed seeing where it got back to.

Thoroughly impressed, he remembered how Rowan had once said they might not be as dissimilar as he thought. He felt like he was starting to get a much better idea as to what she’d meant by that. 

The information Hartley had found months ago had certainly given him a lot of food for thought, but seeing Rowan in action getting into Bancroft’s office caused Len to feel more akin to her than he ever had before.

Simultaneously, he tried to keep his mind off the great view he’d just gotten of her rather distractingly exposed cleavage when she’d crouched down beside him to pick the lock. Damn dress indeed.

Rowan pushed open the door and closed it silently behind them when they were both inside. Once they’d confirmed they were alone, Rowan headed straight for a large desk in the middle of the room, dropping to her knees and running her fingers along the inside panel of it until she hit a latch. After bypassing another digital locking mechanism, a hidden compartment of the desk slid open.

She quickly grabbed all the contents inside, mostly envelopes and papers and a few USB keys and set about copying the keys to a small device she produced, again seemingly from nowhere, while quickly and efficiently photographing some of the paper documents with a tiny camera, origin likewise unknown.

Len took in the scene with great admiration for her very advanced degree of skill and aptitude for the one thing he held in higher regard than anything else; good, old-fashioned, real time B&E based thievery. He also continued to enjoy the excellent views he was getting of her very attractive body in that ridiculously sexy outfit as she knelt and manoeuvred around on the floor. 

Yes, Rowan would have quite a lot of explaining to do after this little joint escapade of theirs was all wrapped up. What was it with Team Flash and super tight red outfits anyway? Len was beginning to think it was all part of some grand scheme to distract him into making a mistake at some point that would land him back in Iron Heights.

For now, however, he realised he had better get on with grabbing what he was ultimately after. He tore his eyes away from his newly minted thief accomplice and soundlessly moved to where his intel told him a standard wall safe should be.

It was right where it was supposed to be and Len made short and efficient work of the dual combination / digital lock. He also knew exactly what he was after and ignored a number of semi-valuable items in the safe, opting to only take one small jewellery case that was just big enough to hold a ring or possibly a small pendant or set of earrings. 

Len quickly opened the case to verify his mark was indeed inside and, after confirming it was, dropped it into a pocket with a zipper inside his nylon jacket and replaced his trophy with an identical looking box.

As he was closing the safe he noticed Rowan had finished her work, closed the secret desk compartment and was now regarding him with a small, bemused smile on her face. She was still kneeling on the floor.

“ _That’s_ why you’re really here tonight…to steal something.”

Len smirked back at her with the steady, cocky gaze of his that conveyed just how much he loved being a thief _and_ being so damn good at it too. His smirk was like hot caramel…thick, decadent and melt-in-your mouth delicious.

“It _is_ what I do,” he drawled. “I’ve never pretended to be anything other than a crook.” He paused, then added, “I don’t quite get why people keep acting surprised when I behave exactly like what I clearly am and always have been…well, have been for a very long time anyway.”

He strode confidently over to where Rowan was kneeling, maintaining that exceptionally self-satisfied smirk on his face the whole time. Meanwhile, Rowan somehow managed to very gracefully get back on her feet while manoeuvring in that oh so tight dress and those almost worryingly high heels.

Len’s heart started beating audibly in his ears as he neared Rowan and he felt a current of electricity pass through his body as he imagined kissing her again…and doing all sorts of other things with her too. 

He had a fleeting thought that it would be utterly exhilarating to go down that road right there in Bancroft’s office where they could be found and captured at any moment…but he knew that would amount to recklessly pushing their luck way too far so he quickly banished the notion, appealing as it may have been. 

“Well, I guess if you’re going to steal from anyone, best to steal from the likes of this asshole. Shall we get going?” 

Rowan breezed past Len on the way to the door and Len followed her, first with his eyes and then with his whole body, all the while sporting as big a satisfied smirk on his face as he’d ever had.

His wild fantasies might not all be hopelessly doomed if Rowan could accept and maybe even celebrate at least some of his thievery. It was his first time out since returning to Central and already his altered tactics were paying huge dividends.

Miraculously, Rowan and Len made it back down the basement stairs and up again to the other side of the house without incident. Len was only a little disappointed because he’d now concocted a plan that suited him much better than simply stealing a few more furtive kisses and tactile explorations in some crappy hallway or basement in some obnoxious idiot’s house.

However, just a few moments after he had closed the door to the basement staircase that they’d first come through they heard the heavy footsteps of two security guys approaching, about to round the corner.

At least somewhat out of genuine concern for their cover, Len deftly, and as gently as possible, pushed Rowan up against one wall of the hallway, carefully pulled the elastic out of her hair that had been holding it back in a neat doubled up pony tail and pressed his lips gently down on hers again, this time letting his hands slowly roam over her very curvaceous body more freely, as if they’d been at this for the last half hour or so, ever since leaving the party room.

Rowan immediately responded in kind, moving her hands up Len’s chest, over his broad shoulders and then back down the sides of his arms. She moved her body suggestively against his and he ran his hand over one of her hips and then across her ass, gently pulling one of her legs up as he moved to make contact with her through their clothes with his quickly hardening cock.

She gasped softly and it was only at that point they both noticed that the two security guys had passed them with barely a snicker and were now rounding another corner, though one of them did glance back over his shoulder with a slight smirk on his face.

Len brushed his lips against Rowan’s neck and sucked gently while Rowan closed her eyes and did her best to look as blissed out as possible. Little did Len know, it was no real effort on her part.

Noting that the guards were gone, he pressed one last lingering kiss to Rowan’s lips, just in case he wouldn’t get another chance, and then stepped away from her. She appeared breathless and flushed again; Len hoped that was a good thing.

Rowan looked up at him with a quizzical expression on her face and then her eyes fell to his hand, which still held her hair elastic. Without saying anything, Len gave it back to her and she looked away as she pulled her hair back into some form of simple upsweep.

Len suddenly hoped he hadn’t gone too far just now. He had genuinely wanted to get the role play right in order to maintain Rowan’s cover, and it had happened so naturally it didn’t feel forced in any way but he couldn’t help but wonder if Rowan might feel differently. 

They were clearly going to have to unpack all this once out of here…a moment for Len that couldn’t come soon enough at this point.

“You okay?” he queried directly when Rowan was finished with her hair.

“Sure,” she replied, only slightly unconvincingly. She still looked a bit breathless and like she needed a moment to collect herself. Len took the opportunity to come back down from being intensely turned on.

Rowan looked up at him and smiled, a touch shyly Len thought, then asked, “Can we get out of here?”

“Let’s,” Len responded simply. He decided it was now or never to suggest his newest plan.

He leaned down towards her ear and breathed quietly, “I’ve upheld my end of our deal so I fully expect one hell of a good explanation for all this once we’re clear. I can take you somewhere safe where we can talk.”

Rowan suddenly looked kind of sad. She nodded though, saying, “All right. I just need to pick up my things downstairs and we can leave. It will actually work well if we’re seen leaving together.”

With that she turned away from him and started walking slowly down the hallway toward the grand staircase that led back to the party room. Len followed close behind her and wondered why he didn’t feel quite as good as he thought he would, considering Rowan had agreed so easily to leave with him. 

There was something about the sad expression on Rowan’s face that really unnerved him.

They made it back downstairs and Rowan disappeared briefly to go collect whatever stuff she had stashed somewhere. When she reappeared she had on a black fifi jacket and a stylish black bag over one shoulder. They, unfortunately, ran into Bancroft on their way out.

“Leaving so soon Cold?” the man droned, a tight frown darkening his face. He glanced at Rowan, then looked back at Len, apparently not altogether happy with the prospect of Len leaving already.

“Something’s come up.” Len employed a light, rather wicked tone while allowing his face to become animated by one of his most indulgent signature smirks.

Bancroft’s features relaxed and he chuckled, suddenly looking pleased with the overall situation. “I had hoped you’d have a chance to connect with some more of my associates but I’m sure there will be other opportunities for that. You’ve clearly enjoyed my hospitality here,” he glanced again at Rowan, “and that’s the most important thing.”

“Yes, it certainly is,” Len drawled. ‘What a shithead,’ Len thought.

Once outside, refreshingly free of the increasingly unpleasant miasma of Bancroft and his associates, Len led Rowan over to his motorcycle.

“Sorry, I didn’t bring any helmets with me tonight…we’ll have to live dangerously.”

Rowan tilted her head to one side and gave Len a small, mischievous smile. “Why stop now?” she quipped.

He flashed her a broad smirk, then mounted his bike and waited for Rowan to get on behind him. She hesitated just a moment and then swung her leg over and positioned herself as comfortably as she could in her short dress and heels.

Len was somewhat worried about how exposed Rowan's legs were so he resolved to drive extra carefully to avoid any mishaps. He'd never had an accident in all his years riding but...one could never be too careful. He wasn't sure if Rowan was used to being a passenger on a motorcycle or not so he quickly tried to think of anything she might need to know.

“Just tap my shoulder if you need me to slow down or stop okay? I might not be able to hear you when we’re out on the highway.”

“Okay…sounds good.”

Len then suggested to Rowan that she hold onto him, at least until they got out of visual range of Bancroft’s place, rather than the back of the seat, as it would look more in character. He mentioned that after they were out of sight, she might want to shift to gripping wherever she could on the back of the bike, as that was generally safer; though he acknowledged his cruiser didn't have many good places to hold onto so it was up to her. She agreed and wrapped her arms around him, just below his chest. 

“Is this okay?” 

He turned his head toward her as far as he could so she would be sure to see his smirk.

“Perfect.”

He could feel Rowan’s sensuous curves pressed against his back and, not for the first time that night, he wondered at his unusual luck.

Len had pondered his feelings for Rowan quite a bit while he was in Aruba. He had come to conclude that, in addition to being attracted to her, he genuinely liked her, enjoyed being around her and was even starting to care about her in ways he had only ever really cared about Lisa and Mick.

It was such an unusual mix of feelings for him, Rowan being such a different person than most of the people Len had usually found himself spending time with throughout his life. It was also totally out of the ordinary for Len to be worried about someone else’s wellbeing and feelings to the extent he now worried about Rowan’s. He didn’t want any harm to come to her and had an urge to try and protect her if he could.

Len decided he would be as patient as possible with her when they got back to his place. He would let things unfold as slowly as necessary and would give Rowan some time if she needed it to open up about what the hell she’d been up to that night.

And, obviously, if she wasn’t interested in any more fooling around, in the absence of the need to play roles and maintain a façade for other people, he would respect that, of course, as disappointing as that would be. Len was well accustomed to disappointment so he knew he could handle it.

If only things could be different this one time though.

Len appreciated how still Rowan was as they rode. It made it easier for him to keep the bike balanced. He noticed with some surprise and encouragement that she opted to keep holding onto him throughout the ride, even after they were well away from the den of iniquity where they’d spent the last hour or so. 

He knew, as he'd said to Rowan, that his bike really didn't have much available otherwise for a passenger to safely hold onto back there but…still, that wasn’t a bad sign was it?

Bancroft’s estate was well outside Central’s city limits and Len sped along a rural highway for a good 10 minutes before slowing down and turning left onto a dirt road that led into a wooded area. There was an almost full moon out and the sky was pretty clear, save for a few wispy, greyish clouds rolling by underneath it.

The headlight from the motorbike illuminated the path before them and, after a minute or two, Len turned right onto an even smaller dirt road. There was little sound other than the roar of the bike’s motor but the moonlight streamed through the trees and cast the most arresting shadows that seemed to dance all around them.

Len had chosen this route to his home for that very reason; it was always beautiful and ethereal in one way or another and he wanted Rowan to experience it. It was one of the precious gems of his often-solitary existence that he secretly delighted in. He hoped she would be able to appreciate the otherworldly beauty of this stretch of road by moonlight. 

He had a strong suspicion that she would get it.


	2. Leaps of Faith

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry again for the delay posting this second chapter. At least it's another long one. These early chapters of Part 2 have required more tweaking than I planned but I think I'm happy with the result. I hope you all enjoy this one! Thanks so much to everyone who's reading this! Feel free to leave kudos or comments if you like! (:

Rowan was still holding onto Len around his waist but she’d shifted slightly a couple times during the ride so as not to let her shoulders or legs cramp up. She was glad she had brought her fifi jacket along on this mission. It was a somewhat form-fitting short black jacket, the outside of which looked like tightly curled sheep’s wool. The night air was fresh and a touch chilly with a strong breeze so the jacket was welcome for its snug warmth.

As Len turned off the highway onto a deserted looking dirt road Rowan wondered, not for the first time, if she’d made the right decision agreeing to go who knew where with the enigmatic Leonard Snart, especially when she was so out of practice dealing with him. 

He’d popped up out of nowhere at the party she’d insinuated herself into after being totally off the radar for a good half year. His sudden reappearance had initially caused her to fear she might have to abort her whole assignment and make a quick getaway, which, in turn, could have been a disaster.

Instead, Len had not only played along with her cover and refrained from exposing her, he’d actually helped solidify the role she was trying to carry off and achieve her mission without having to do anything distressing with any of the other guests or security guards at the party.

As for what she’d done with Len…Rowan tried to tell herself it was all a sacrifice for a very important cause. She couldn’t deny, however, that from the moment she saw him she had felt electrified by his presence and that sensation had only intensified during the intimate moments they’d shared while ‘playing’ their parts. Her body had felt positively on fire; the rest of her had gotten pretty swept up in events too.

In the hallway, when Len had pushed her up against a wall when the two guards walked by, she had actually felt faint from how turned on she was. 

Rowan didn’t contemplate her own sexuality much but she had, in recent years, come to think of herself as greysexual. Leastways, if she absolutely had to pick a category or label that was the one that seemed to fit her best. The number of people Rowan had felt strongly attracted to in her adult life could easily be counted on one hand and she’d still have fingers left over.

So, needless to say, the intensity of her physical reaction to Leonard Snart felt more than a little overwhelming.

She knew she should feel way more wary of being so vulnerable to the whims of the infamous Captain Cold, regardless of the various random times they’d helped each other out over the past year or so and the easy banter they always seemed to fall into; but she was still too physically exhilarated by his closeness to manage worrying too much.

The last few months had been hard for Rowan and extremely stressful. A mole had infiltrated her network and Linney had almost ended up dead or worse before anyone had caught on. In the end, only Linney’s cover had been compromised but it had been a really close call. 

If not for one of their best operatives getting a bad feeling about an undercover mission and secretly tailing along, Rowan would likely have lost one of her few friends.

As it was, Linney ended up retiring from the field a bit sooner than she’d planned. Her cover had been completely blown so that was it for her work with the network. Rowan was extremely grateful Linney had survived and gotten away from it all, the way she’d wanted to. It did leave Rowan without any real friends on the team though, which was tough.

As they rode through the night, Rowan thought back to the intimacies she and Len had unexpectedly shared. One thing she had learned for certain; Leonard Snart was an exceptionally amazing kisser. 

The first time he’d kissed her, his lips were so soft and gentle Rowan had had to open her eyes after a few moments to make sure she was indeed kissing the man she thought she was. In spite of the obvious layers she had come to know he possessed, she’d still never expected him to be so tender and sensual in his approach.

Then, when they’d kissed the second time, he’d started out gently again but quickly heightened things to a more passionate and pressing level that got Rowan’s heart pounding and senses throbbing harder than she’d ever felt as a result of any other intimate encounter.

In spite of how sincere he seemed at times, especially after she’d helped save his life, she couldn’t help but wonder if Len might just be playing her; maybe had been playing her all this time. For her own safety and the integrity of her mission, she had an obligation to consider the possibility that he could still end up betraying her to her enemies at any time. 

But somehow, she doubted he would ever do that. Rowan had good instincts when it came to people. She figured now was as good a time as any to trust them. 

She resolved she would play things close to her chest, however, and delay revealing any truly compromising information as long as possible to give her the greatest chance of assessing Len’s true plans.

Damn! When had she started to find the charismatic crook so profoundly and irresistibly attractive? And of course of all people to react this way to, Rowan would go for a notorious super villain. 

Sometimes she really had to wonder about herself.

Rowan had largely shelved all her reflections about Len over the last few months, not knowing when, if ever, she would see him again. Now that he was back though, she found all those latent thoughts and feelings she’d suppressed had bubbled back up to the surface with a vengeance and she was being forced to confront them at a fairly inopportune time. 

Here she was in the middle of an extremely critical and dangerous mission and the truth was, based on her reactions to him at Bancroft’s place, she had never felt as strongly attracted or drawn to anyone ever before in her life. 

There was the physical attraction to contend with, which was formidable, but underneath that she could perceive powerful emotional and intellectual, even spiritual, elements as well that were every bit as strong as the physical ones.

Geez! Just when she needed to be at her sharpest and most in control, the universe tossed her this curve ball. Well, of course it did.

Rowan was left at a serious disadvantage as she struggled to behave logically and reasonably in the face of her insides being lit up like a billion matches, all of them attached to their own individual sticks of dynamite.

As she held onto Len, pressed close up against his back, Rowan realised something else. In spite of her best efforts to minimise her feelings over the last while, she had to admit she’d really missed the rogue the whole time he’d been away. Being around him again had reminded her of how comfortable their banter had come to feel before he left and how fun it was to have someone to joke around with.

Her thoughts strayed to the choker around her neck. Wearing it had cemented her look for the evening but had also necessitated leaving the necklace she’d habitually come to wear, almost without thinking pretty much all the time, behind in her bedroom. That necklace, the one Len had gotten made for her, wouldn’t have worked with her outfit…it reflected too much of her true self. 

And that wasn’t symbolic at all. 

‘Wow,’ Rowan thought to herself. For the first time the full seriousness of her situation hit her. ‘I really _am_ in deep.’ Rowan’s brow furrowed as she contemplated this new, rather jarring realisation.

Rowan certainly hoped Len wasn’t planning anything nefarious. She would feel so stupid and kick herself so hard if things went that way, after doing her best to kick his butt first, of course. It would be extra disappointing too because she’d found Len still fun to be around, despite the tenseness and danger of the situation they’d been in.

After a while, Len turned down an even smaller dirt road and Rowan started to feel outright uneasy. Then they sped through a small clearing and she was startled by the sudden beauty of the moonlight casting a light blue glow through the woods on either side of the road.

She relaxed for the most part, taking in the earthy beauty of the moon creating shadows of trees in almost ghostly patterns all around them.

Some old-fashioned style street lamps were spaced every hundred feet or so along the dirt road. They didn’t give off too much light but they added to the dance of shadows and to the atmosphere of unusual and mysterious beauty they were suddenly engulfed in.

The road ended a short way on and Len slowed and took another left through a pathway through the trees that led them out onto a small paved concession road that was lit by regular street lights and was only mostly deserted, the occasional car passing them or visible up ahead or behind them. Rowan relaxed even more now that they were in sight of at least some dwellings with lights on.

They passed a number of well-spaced farmhouses and, after about five more minutes, Len pulled into a long driveway that inclined upward through another fairly heavily treed area. They finally came to a stop outside a sizable but not overly large house that looked like it was pretty old but had been renovated at some point recently and was currently well maintained. 

It was a charming combination of sleek and modern but also rustic, with a lot of character.

A single large and bright porch light cast plenty of light for Rowan to be able to see around her and dismount the motorbike without tripping. Her legs were somewhat stiff and she was happy to get off the bike, though the ride had been smooth and reasonably pleasant, if a tad stressful.

“Welcome to my humble home,” Len drawled with only slight sarcasm evident in his voice, his signature smirk illuminated by the streaming light from the porch.

“This is yours?” Rowan asked, a touch incredulously, while trying to hide the true level of her surprise.

“Yep, all mine,” Len responded with an unmistakable hint of pride in his voice. “I spend a lot of my time in the city when I’m working but when I’m off this is where I come to enjoy the fruits of my criminal labours.”

Rowan could see Len smiling now in the gleam of the porch light. He had a wicked glint in his eyes and seemed to delight in reminding Rowan, just in case she’d forgotten, how he supported and enriched himself.

Rowan fixed Len with her typical, mildly exasperated expression and shook her head. How had she found herself out in the middle of nowhere with a thoroughly unrepentant criminal again?

Having her feet walking beneath her on solid ground snapped her out of the reflective state she’d been in while riding on the bike. She tensed, becoming highly focused and hyper aware, just in case Len’s intentions did turn out to be less than benign. He wasn’t giving off any weird vibes but…he had betrayed people before and Rowan wanted to be ready for any sudden changes of tone.

Len led Rowan up the porch steps to the front door. He unlocked it in no less than five places. Rowan couldn’t help but smile at the thought of a consummate thief’s insights into keeping his own home from being broken into.

Len opened the door and held it for Rowan to enter. He turned on a small hall light inside and, once the door was closed, entered a code into his home security system. As her eyes adjusted, Rowan glanced around at the neat little entranceway that led immediately to a flight of stairs, which Len motioned for Rowan to ascend.

“You can keep your shoes on…I haven’t swept the stairs in a while,” Len intoned with a mild smirk. 

Rowan carefully began climbing the stairs in the heels that had started killing her feet as soon as she’d gotten off Len’s motorcycle. She wasn’t used to wearing heels of any kind so had practiced walking in these rather unforgiving ones quite extensively in preparation for her evening’s work.

It had certainly paid off. She’d been able to walk in them for a good number of hours without moving awkwardly or experiencing much pain. After the rest they’d received while riding on Len’s bike, however, they were now protesting wildly at being asked to function once again in such towering compartments of physically destructive foot architecture. She would definitely have to take them off soon.

Rowan reached a landing and Len arrived beside her. He seemed to notice she had been climbing the stairs gingerly and glanced down at her feet.

“Your feet hurting?”

Hmmm…he was more perceptive than most men she’d known, she had to give him that.

“Yeah, they’re actually killing me right now,” Rowan answered trying not to sound too pained for fear of seeming too vulnerable. “As you may have noticed from our previous meetings, I’m not really used to walking in heels.”

Len smirked and chuckled quietly. “Well, yes, I had noticed that. Quite the different look for you Ro. I have to say, as much as I like your usual style…this one’s not bad either.” 

Rowan’s eyes darted to meet Len’s and he shot her a decidedly wicked glance. He may have winked at her too but he looked away so quickly she couldn’t be sure. Great. Now she was feeling all wound up again. ‘I am just _not_ paid enough for this,’ Rowan reflected.

They reached the top of the second flight of stairs and Len switched on a lamp. They were now at the edge of a very large, open concept room that served as both a living room and a kitchen, along with a small bar and dining area.

Len continued into the room and switched on another lamp, creating a somewhat muted lighting effect that was bright enough to see well by without being too harsh.

“Wow! This is… _really_ nice.” Rowan looked around, appreciating the neat and elegant but also very comfortable and homey style the room was decorated in. ‘Yep…definitely not paid enough,’ she sighed inwardly.

“Make yourself at home.” Len waved a graceful hand around the room and eyed Rowan with the intense gaze she often had trouble reading. “Do you want ice water for your feet?”

“Unhhh…no that’s okay,” Rowan answered uncertainly. The question was unexpected and threw her off a bit. “I’ll just take these crazy shoes off if you don’t mind.”

Len smiled at her and watched as she slowly moved further into the room, choosing to sit down on the couch nearest her so she could carefully remove her shoes.

“My sister Lisa likes to soothe her feet in ice water sometimes after she’s been wearing heels all day. She says it helps get rid of the pain almost immediately. Maybe you should try it.”

Rowan thought for a moment. Captain Cold offering her ice water for her feet…really, how could she resist and not regret _that_ for the rest of her life?’ 

“Okay, maybe I will.”

Len slid off his nylon jacket and hung it on a hook by what looked like a closet door. It struck Rowan as strange to have a row of hooks right outside a closet but then maybe the door wasn’t what she thought.

Len offered to take her jacket so she stood, unzipped it and slid it off, remembering only after doing so that she was now rather exposed again in a way she really wasn’t used to. Len took her jacket and hung it up with only a brief glance down at her, but one she couldn’t help notice was accompanied by a slightly bemused upward turn of his lips. 

Rowan sat down on the couch again and watched as Len retrieved a large plastic bowl from under the kitchen sink, which he then half filled up with water. He took an ice cube tray from the freezer and noisily loosened all the cubes, emptying the whole tray directly into the bowl. He stirred the cubes around with his fingers for a few seconds as his eyes flicked over to Rowan, who was gently massaging her feet.

Len carried the ice water over to her, taking care not to spill any. 

“It’s probably best you put your feet in right away before it gets so _cold_ it’s too much for you.” Len was smirking deeply again with a playful glint in his eyes.

“Thanks,” Rowan said simply, not knowing how else to elaborate. 

Goofy and somewhat suggestive puns aside, she thought she might be glimpsing Len in the caretaker role he must usually reserve for his sister. Rowan suddenly felt flattered that he would treat her in a similar way to one of only two people she knew of that he actually cared about. But then maybe Len had a more nurturing side that extended further than she realised…or maybe he was just playing an angle.

Whatever his true motivations, Rowan was grateful he was continuing to interact with her in the same way he had at the party and during past encounters, at least for the moment.

She inhaled deeply and slowly lowered both her feet into the cool water, which was already melting the ice and taking on a very frigid quality. She inhaled again sharply when her feet were both submerged.

“Wow! That _is_ cold!”

Len snickered lightly and looked at her. “That’s the idea. Lisa always says it’s exhilarating.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

Rowan gritted her teeth and smiled a touch uncomfortably. She wasn’t used to any part of her being submerged in such cold water and she wasn’t sure how long she could stand it but she didn’t want to seem too wimpy by making a big deal about it too quickly.

Plus, she could tell the cold water was indeed soothing her feet already so she resigned to stick with the treatment for at least a few more minutes. She massaged her feet again while they were underwater, fully aware of and self-conscious about how she must look bending over with her outfit being what it was. 

There wasn’t much to be done about it though so what the hell. At least Len wasn’t one to leer and say overtly sleazy things. If he were, she’d never have agreed to go anywhere with him.

“Want something to drink?” Len asked casually.

“You wouldn’t have any chocolate soymilk would you?” 

Rowan decided to come right out and be candid about her personal preferences, even if the chances of them being fulfilled seemed remote. Len smirked, however, strode over to the fridge, opened it and spun around to face her with a carton of none other than her favourite brand in his hand, a look of triumphant satisfaction animating his face as Rowan tilted her head in surprise.

“Hey, that’s my favourite!”

“What can I say Ro? I enjoyed it so much that first time at your place I started buying it myself. Besides, I’m always _pleased_ to give a guest exactly what she wants.” Len was utilising his drawl to full effect in an undeniably playful and flirty way.

Rowan had started to feel fairly relaxed and contained until that moment but Len’s sexy tone reignited the electric heat her body had been experiencing earlier and she had to take a few deep breaths to keep from getting too light headed. 

He poured her a large glass of chocolate soymilk and then poured himself some as well, by all appearances oblivious to how his voice and words were affecting her.

“I usually prefer my chocolate hot with marshmallows, as you already know…but I too feel the need for something _cold_ right now,” Len’s mischief filled voice matched the glint in his playful eyes.

He walked over to the couch, handed Rowan her drink and then sat down in a very comfortable looking chair across from her, regarding her intensely but warmly.

Rowan thanked him, doing her best to calm down and compose herself. She took a sip of the sweet, cold beverage and immediately felt a bit better. 

“So…were you _actually_ out of town these past few months or have you just been hanging out here this whole time?” 

Rowan was very curious where Len had been and was keen to finally learn some details about his recent whereabouts. It would be kind of funny if he’d successfully hidden from the CCPD for so long so close to the city when a significant chunk of law enforcement resources had been allocated to trying to find him. 

Rowan suddenly realised that as an agent of law enforcement she shouldn’t, in fact, find that funny. 

A corner of Len’s mouth quirked up and an almost wistful expression crossed his face, one Rowan was sure she’d never seen on him before. He shook his head ever so slightly and his never-far-away smirk returned and quickly deepened.

“Amusing as that would have been, we just got back here a couple of weeks ago. Believe it or not, Lisa, Mick and I were in Aruba…since Christmas.” Len must have noticed Rowan’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise because he chuckled and shook his head, more vigorously this time.

“It was Mick’s turn to choose our destination and I can’t say I loved the heat at first but we all managed to stick it out. Had a pretty good time actually.”

“You were in Aruba for six whole months?” 

Rowan found that revelation genuinely astonishing, considering how much Len claimed to prefer the cold and kept himself covered at all times, even in the blistering heat of Central City summers. 

“What’s the point of going on vacation if you’re just going to come home again after a few weeks?” Len continued to smirk wickedly, looking oh so pleased with his life choices. “One of the many perks of ditching the whole 9 to 5 deal, I suppose.”

Rowan breathed out a single soft laugh and glanced away. A six-month vacation somewhere warm with beautiful beaches did sound pretty amazing. She felt distinctly envious, especially considering how her life had been going lately. 

Now that she thought about it he did seem more relaxed and somehow lighter than he had when she’d known him before. Clearly the time away had been good for him.

Rowan realised she must have been too distracted earlier to have registered Len’s now all too obvious tan. With his jacket off she could also see he’d been keeping himself active while away, toned muscles easily visible through the well-fitting, black, long-sleeved turtleneck he was wearing. As if he didn’t look amazing enough before.

Suddenly she thought of something.

“I…don’t suppose the fact that flights between Aruba and Curacao are the only place in the entire western hemisphere where it’s at least theoretically possible to evade extradition to the US had anything to do with your choice of destination?”

Len’s smirk evened out and he flicked his eyes downward while tilting his head, as if he was contemplating that idea for the first time. Then his eyes flicked up again and he gave a small one shouldered shrug.

“I honestly can’t say for sure Ro. Even I can’t tell what all’s going on in my criminal partner’s head at any given moment. I gave up trying to figure that out years ago. Wouldn’t put the notion past him though.” Len raised his eyebrows playfully and took a sip of his chocolate.

Rowan shook her head in resigned amusement. She felt Len’s gaze intensify on her again and let her eyes drift back to meet his. He was indeed staring thoughtfully at her now, wearing a slightly more serious expression than he had for the past few minutes.

“So…how have _you_ been these last few months Ro? Team Flash still hanging in there I assume?”

A shadow must have crossed Rowan’s face because she noticed Len’s playful smirk contract even further and his eyes become even more serious during the pause in their conversation as she thought about how best to answer his questions.

“Well…it’s been a…difficult time I’d say. Barry was almost killed more than once by this crazy, evil speedster named Zoom. He gave everyone on Team Flash a really hard time for a while but…he’s toast now so, that mostly all turned out okay. Except that…Zoom killed Barry’s father right in front of him so…that’s the really awful part. Barry’s been taking it really hard. If you could lay off of him for a while I’d certainly appreciate it.” 

Len scowled darkly and his eyes hit the floor. He seemed genuinely upset.

“You sure this _Zoom_ character is really dead?” 

“Dead might not be the most _exact_ word for it. He was apparently dragged away by some seriously pissed off time wraiths…I think into the speed force but I’m not totally 100% sure of that. But apparently he won’t be back…according to Cisco anyway.”

Len arched an eyebrow in question. Rowan proceeded to give the highlights of how everything had unfolded and did her best to explain the basics of time wraiths and the speed force, to the extent that she understood them. When she was done Len looked composed but also sombre.

“Have to say I’m glad to have missed all that. I…met Barry’s old man at Iron Heights a few times. He was…decent. I can see where Barry got his strong moral compass from. I was happy to hear he’d finally gotten out of jail. Guess he didn’t get to enjoy that for too long.” 

Len darted his head to the side, appearing subdued and thoughtful.

Rowan didn’t say anything for a few moments. Then she decided to continue to try and answer Len’s questions, if only to steer the conversation away from what had turned out to be a very sad and sobering topic. 

“As for me…it’s also not been the best time. Things have been tough but…not as tough as what Barry’s been through, of course.”

Just then she realised she couldn’t stand the ice-cold water anymore and abruptly lifted both her feet out of it, hooking her toes around the rim of the basin so her feet were suspended over the water, droplets rolling off her skin and dripping back into the bowl.

She had to move carefully, as her dress really was quite short and rode up her legs even more as she sat on the couch.

“Had enough?” Len asked.

“Yeah…you were right though. My feet feel a lot better now.”

Len got up and came back with a towel so Rowan could dry her feet off. He then carefully carried the bowl away and dumped the water down the sink. Rowan watched him and took a few gulps of her soymilk, grateful for the familiar sweet, chocolaty taste that was a kind of comfort beverage for her.

Len returned and gracefully lowered himself back into the chair opposite Rowan. He regarded her for a few moments and then took another sip of soymilk.

“I hope you don’t take this the wrong way Ro…but you do look…tired. I mean, you look totally amazing tonight…in that outfit, don’t get me wrong but…you do seem, more on edge than I remember you ever being before.” 

Rowan held back a small laugh at what seemed to be a quick attempt on Len’s part to backtrack after he’d said she looked tired. He’d given her what felt like a perfunctory look up and down when he’d said she looked amazing but frowned afterward. It appeared as if he’d suddenly realised telling her she looked tired might not have been his smoothest move ever and he thought he’d better quickly say something else to lessen the insult. 

Rowan smiled, mostly inwardly, at the thought of the ever slick and eloquent Captain Cold floundering for words and worrying about how he sounded. Still, even if he’d mainly said it to make up for something else, it still filled Rowan with a warm feeling to hear that he thought she looked amazing. 

She paused for a few moments to consider what she should share with Len about her time since he left the city. She decided to keep things general for now and only give a basic overview of how she’d been doing.

“Well…like I said it hasn’t been the easiest time for me this past while. Things have been stressful…I mean more stressful than usual. You probably noticed in the past that my work life is usually less…role-play oriented than my mission was tonight. Normally I wouldn’t be getting into that type of situation but…something happened a few months ago that’s forced our hands. It’s meant I’ve had to be ready to take a few more risks and do a few things I normally wouldn’t.”

“You can say that again.” Len’s face settled into a somewhat complex expression that seemed to include ingredients such as curiosity and interest, mixed with a large dose of concern. He appeared conflicted for a moment, then took a sip of soymilk and levelled an intense gaze at Rowan once again.

“Look Ro, I know you’ve been reluctant in the past to let me in on pretty much anything at all about yourself but…you did promise me full disclosure back there at shithead central.” 

Len continued to look intently at Rowan, like he was either about to settle in for a good, long bedtime story or else was about to swallow her whole.

It was the unnerving mix of charm and potential danger that so often caused Rowan to doubt her impressions of Len, as he remained one of the few people she had ever met that she had a really hard time reading at any given moment. Or, maybe she just had a hard time trusting him fully, in spite of how comfortable she’d started to feel in his presence, most of the time.

His contempt for Bancroft and associates certainly felt genuine though, so that was at least somewhat reassuring.

Rowan darted her eyes away, which was a habit she indulged in whenever she was trying to buy time and figure out her next move. She felt a bit trapped now that Len was outright asking her for actual details as to what all she was involved with, especially that evening…but she had agreed to let him in on what she was up to in exchange for his help so she couldn’t just ignore that either.

She looked back at Len, meeting his gaze, exhaling slowly. “You may not like hearing the full story. I mean…you may end up really disturbed by it.”

Len laughed out loud at that. “Trust me Ro, it takes a lot to get me disturbed.”

Rowan looked down for a few moments but when she looked back up at Len his expression had changed. He looked serious and intense again.

“Still, it _is_ late and it’s true I’m not really in the mood for anything too heavy right now.” He paused, “Actually, I’m in an entirely different mood, now that I think about it.”

The corners of his lips lifted, as they had earlier, and he let his eyes noticeably roam over Rowan before coming back to meet her gaze once more. 

“I have to say I enjoyed working with you back there. I’d say we made a pretty good team. Very natural _fit_ , wouldn’t you say?” Len arched an eyebrow and shot Rowan a rather unabashedly desirous smirk.

Rowan was relieved Len seemed to be letting her off the hook for now regarding details of her work but felt simultaneously pinned to the spot by his very obvious proposition.

She instinctively understood the true nature of his question, no matter how innocuously it was worded. Len was essentially probing toward asking her if she wanted to sleep with him and he wasn’t being very subtle about it. She was suddenly thrust back into the intense state of heightened physical sensitivity she’d been struggling with to varying degrees ever since she’d found herself face to face with the thief earlier that night.

If Rowan was a person who simply followed her immediate desires, the question would have had an immediate and bold response, which would have involved her getting up, walking straight over to Len and settling herself into his lap while she planted her lips firmly on his and went full-steam ahead from there. 

Rowan was a very different sort of person though, one who had never allowed anything in her personal life to be that simple or that immediate…or maybe she’d just learned early on to be careful and feared the consequences of making snap decisions. 

At any rate, she quickly decided her safest bet was to be literal and earnest, without giving absolutely everything she was feeling away.

“Sure,” Rowan smiled lightly. “I appreciate you not getting in my way and…playing along.”

She sensed she was probably blushing and, not for the first time in her life, wished she wasn’t so prone to involuntary physical displays of self-consciousness.

Len continued to regard her, seemingly with both curiosity and amusement.

“You certainly have a talent for evasion,” Len said after a pause, setting his cup down on a table beside the chair he was sitting in and leaning forward slightly.

“Look, I know we haven’t always been on the same side of things in the past and it’s been quite a while since we’ve seen each other but…I like you Ro and I liked kissing you tonight and, in all seriousness, I want more.” He let his eyes flick downward in the characteristic way he had. They flicked up again a few moments later, intently meeting Rowan’s gaze. 

“I want more of _you_ …if you’re up for that.”

Rowan conceded that she certainly couldn’t fault Len for any lack of directness. She noticed his usual sarcastic drawl had been almost entirely absent from his proposition. She actually felt relieved he’d chosen to be so straightforward and frank because it made it easier for her to be.

One of the strange things she found about Len was that, despite his open admissions that he was a liar, well capable of deceiving people, he came across as more honest most of the time than a lot of people Rowan knew who would never admit to being untruthful ever. 

It was confounding that he never seemed to lie to her, while simultaneously and readily labelling himself a liar. Was it all a game to him? Was he honest whenever he had no reason not to be so that his lies would be lost in the sea of candidness he otherwise inundated everyone around him with? 

Sometimes Len seemed to skid across words like even gravity couldn’t hold him down.

Rowan concluded that if she ever wanted to solve the riddle that was Leonard Snart she would have to allow herself to get closer to him and risk being hurt and disappointed. Still, she worried she was rushing into things, letting her powerful attraction to him and the sheer excitement of their surprise encounter cloud her judgement.

“I liked kissing you too…” Rowan surprised herself by being so blunt, “but I don’t usually…I’m not someone who gets…close to people easily.”

Len looked thoughtful for a moment. He seemed to understand what she was saying.

“I have a very comfortable guest room you can sleep in tonight if you want…or…you can keep me company in my bed and we can do or not do whatever you want.” 

Len’s expression had taken on an earnest quality that was entirely unfamiliar to Rowan’s experience of his features thus far. She marvelled at how well it suited him though. Free of all the calculated insouciance, Len’s face was a whole other level of stunning.

The distinctive drawl of his so carefully controlled voice had continued to be less pronounced than usual as well. Rowan wondered if she was actually starting to catch glimpses of the real Len…the person he was underneath the assiduously crafted persona he usually showed the world, while keeping his deepest thoughts, feelings and truths to himself. 

Even when he’d confided all he had to her the day after he’d been shot he had still seemed more guarded than he did now.

Rowan tried to contemplate the choices Len had just laid out for her and the pros and cons of each. She realised she was about to stall again but felt it was fair enough considering the significance of the decision she was about to make.

“I really need to shower before I go to bed or…well, either way. How about I let you know after that?” Len held Rowan’s gaze for a few moments, an unreadable expression on his face.

Then he nodded once and said, “No problem. You can use the shower through here.” 

Len got up and motioned with his head for Rowan to follow. She brought her bag with her, which contained some useful sleepover items, including some comfortable pyjamas she’d packed, just in case she ended up alone in a hotel somewhere that night.

Len led her through the door near the coat rack, which turned out to connect to a _very_ large, impressive and comfortable looking bedroom. Rowan experienced a moment of alarm as she wondered if Len might actually turn on her and go into criminal ‘I take what I want when I want it’ mode with her.

Instead he led her to an ensuite bathroom that was well designed and spacious, with a large sunken bathtub in the middle of the floor and a separate shower off to one side, sporting a very remarkable looking showerhead. Rowan looked around the room and couldn’t help but openly convey how impressed she was by it. 

“Your place is so amazing; it’s so well decorated!” Rowan hoped she didn’t sound silly as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

“Thanks,” Len responded with an unabashedly pleased smile. “Lisa helped pick a lot of things out when we renovated. There are plenty of towels right beside the shower,” Len waved in the direction of a cupboard, “and soap and shampoo inside…I’m not sure what else you might need.”

He looked down at Rowan, a touch sadly she thought. Perhaps he’d concluded she wasn’t likely to keep him company and share his bed for the night the way he clearly wanted her to. 

“Thanks, I’m good…I even have some jammies with me.” Rowan quirked a corner of her mouth up and hoped her casual delivery would help lighten the mood.

Len cracked a wide and genuine smile, while shaking his head. 

“Can I make a request?”

Rowan arched an eyebrow as she looked up at him and said, “Sure,” with a trace of uncertainty as she wondered what further request Len could possibly make of her.

“If you do choose fun over sleep tonight, how about you put that sexy dress of yours back on after you shower so I have a chance to take it off you…” ‘the way I’ve wanted to all night’, Len finished the thought in his head.

Wow! If Rowan’s skin had felt on fire before, her whole body felt aflame now. Len’s words made her insides feel like they’d been replaced by a wave pool.

After a short pause during which Rowan felt a definite blush creep up to her face yet again she breathed, “All right,” agreeing simply with a soft smile that was almost flirty. Len locked eyes with her before flicking his downward, turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Rowan set her bag down by the door, exhaled and instinctively crossed her arms in front of her, clutching her biceps with her hands for a few moments before moving to stand in front of the mirror above the bathroom sink.

Her face surprised her as she was confronted with the unfamiliar sight of her heavily made-up appearance, which she’d largely forgotten about having been so focused on her mission…and having been mesmerised by Len’s lengthy proximity to her throughout the night.

She regarded herself for a few moments, guessing her appearance must be a large part of the reason for Len’s sudden, very candid sexual interest in her. Although, he had shown interest in her before in other ways, she remembered. He’d been intent on ‘figuring her out’ for the first few months after she’d confronted him about Ferris Air and had been quite dedicated to that goal for a while.

She’d thought she might have detected a slight attraction on his part to her at times when he’d been recovering from his gunshot wound in her apartment, but he’d been a lot less obvious about it then. The flirty joking at the time had felt just like that: joking.

Then there were the gifts, especially the roses and the pendant, but Rowan had tried hard not to read too much into those. And yet…

Rowan’s make up had held up pretty well throughout the night but she wanted her face back now so set about cleaning most of it off before her shower to make sure she got it all and it didn’t go into her eyes too much while under the heavy stream of the showerhead.

After only a few minutes Rowan was back to looking more like her everyday self...well, except for her dress which still made her body look a lot more voluptuous than it usually did, partially due to its tightness and partially due to its intentional construction.

Rowan almost never wore clothes that showed a lot of skin and emphasized her curves so this had been a huge departure, one she only abided because of the importance of the success of her mission which depended entirely on her nurturing a believable cover that would allow her to move freely around her target’s house that night.

She walked over to the shower and couldn’t stop herself from doing a quick sweep of the area for cameras or listening devices. She might be willing to take a hell of a lot of risks in her work, but she was always cautious about it so checking her environment for any and all possible threats had become second nature to her at all times. 

Finding nothing untoward, she slowly started to disrobe, taking off her choker and unzipping the back of her dress and then slipping it off, hanging it on a hook near the shower by its straps.

Her body, especially her breasts and chest area, felt immediate relief at being freed from such tight confines and Rowan examined the reddish marks her dress had imprinted on her upper torso. At least the shower would feel really good on her skin.

She slipped off her underwear and put them inside her bag, then opened the shower door. She turned on the water and got it to the temperature she wanted; what a lot of people would likely consider quite warm for the time of year. Rowan was a very fit and well-muscled woman but for some reason her upper body often felt a touch on the chilled side. Even when it was warm out, she couldn’t really handle cool showers very well.

She stepped into the strong stream of fairly hot water and immediately felt infinitely better as it washed over her and carried away all the sweat and dust from the events of the day, as well as a lot of the built up stress she was feeling too.

She lathered up her whole body with natural soap she’d brought with her, as regular commercial soap always dried her skin out too much. Despite being pretty laid back most of the time, Rowan was very particular about some things. She kept her hair pulled back in a swept up ponytail because she didn’t want to go to the trouble of washing it right then.

As she bathed, she thought. She must be crazy to even consider spending the night with one of Central City’s most notorious criminals, even if she had developed a rather unlikely but often fun rapport with him. No one would have any sympathy for her if things went sideways.

Morally, she was conflicted. She couldn’t deny her feelings for him; the sense she had that he was not really the person he generally presented to the world or, at the very least, there was an awful lot more to him than that. She couldn’t ignore the sense she had that in spite of the truly horrible things he had done, there was a whole other side to Len…a side Rowan deeply wanted to explore and be explored by.

But…he really had done some horrible things. He’d murdered people…so what was she thinking? Granted, he hadn’t murdered anyone in a while as far as she knew, other than his father, which Rowan gave him a pass on. Lewis Snart had been a verifiable monster in her books.

And it was true that he was known to have mainly killed other criminals, and that jived with what he’d told Rowan himself when he was recovering from being shot. It was indeed believable to her that he’d killed most of the people he had out of a genuine desire to prevent them killing other, more innocent people. 

Still, he had endangered innocent civilians on more than one occasion and had killed at least one of them with his cold gun in a reckless act while trying to test the Flash’s response times, not even two years ago.

Was his less dastardly behaviour recently truly evidence of Len changing or was it just because of the deal he’d made with Barry? A deal Rowan herself had underwritten by threatening to release her secret copies of his police files back to the authorities if he did step out of line. Was Len taking the opportunity to seduce her now in order to have something to hold over her to get out from under the ever-present threat she represented?

Although…Rowan had realised a while ago that since Len had been in prison again for killing his father he was back in the system already so the files she held were perhaps not as high stakes to him as they once had been.

Would he kill her in her sleep if she let her guard down? Len did not seem to be a psychopath; his dedication to protecting his sister and apparent concern for animals seemed to rule that out…but with psychopathy it was impossible to ever be 100% sure that outward expressions of emotion were not being faked. 

Rowan shook her shoulders and neck out and tried to calm her somewhat racing mind. After ruling out the likelihood of some of her more paranoia induced contemplations, she circled back to reasoning that she was either going to have to take a serious leap of faith when it came to Len and all her questions surrounding him or live with never knowing the answers.

She finished rinsing herself and turned off the water. She grabbed a towel and dried herself, then stepped out onto the shower mat.

It was time to make a decision and Rowan resolved to leave all the back and forth intellectualising in the shower and just go with her gut on this one. She suddenly felt like she owed it to herself to do what she felt was best for herself at that moment.

With that realisation and conviction crystallised, she readied herself, took a deep breath and prepared to open the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick note...I hadn't originally planned to identify Rowan as being greysexual but then I realised I'd pretty much written her that way so I decided to articulate that. I do identify that way myself but please let me know if you think anything seems off with her characterisation at any point. I think Len and Rowan both end up throwing each other a curve in their lives and that's part of what I'm trying to get across.


	3. Coming Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...this is the first sex scene I've ever written. I hope you all enjoy it. Apologies for the chapter title. It just kind of happened. (:

Rowan opened the door to Len’s bedroom and softly placed her bag on the floor just inside it. Len was stretched out on his king-sized bed with his head propped on one hand, calmly flipping through a magazine. He’d taken his boots and socks off but was otherwise still fully clothed.

His eyes flicked up immediately and a look of surprised satisfaction rolled over his face.

Rowan stood leaning back against the doorframe, her hair combed but left down, her body once again squeezed into the red and black mini dress Len had taken such a liking to. 

She felt weird putting such a tight piece of clothing back on after such a refreshing shower but she figured it wouldn’t be staying on for long. She’d refrained from putting her underwear back on, as that just seemed redundant.

Len closed the magazine he’d been flipping through and tossed it onto a table not far from the bed.

“You’ve made up your mind then?” Len peered up at Rowan, the first stirrings of lust slowly surfacing in his usually guarded eyes.

Rowan started walking slowly, almost tentatively, toward the bed. 

“Just one caveat. I know you’re always saying you’re not a good guy…but if we do this, you have to keep being nice to me, all night…and for however long I’m here.”

Rowan reached the bed. “Agreed?” Her large eyes searched Len’s and she said softly, almost in a whisper. “Don’t try to hurt me or I promise you’ll regret it.”

Len swung himself up into a sitting position facing her. “Of course, agreed,” Len’s voice was soft yet firm as he gently smiled up at her. His brow creased, however, as he considered her words.

He regarded Rowan for a few moments, then said, “I am a criminal and a jerk, that’s undeniable…but I’m not that kind of all out asshole. I want us both to have a good time tonight. I’ve never had any complaints in this area; none that I’m aware of anyway.”

Rowan returned his gaze and relaxed a little.

Len leaned back slightly and continued to peer into Rowan’s eyes. He seemed to be considering saying something more but hesitated. He flicked his eyes down and when he flicked them back up again he asked, “Is there anything I should know before we start…such as triggering words or…actions? Anything you definitely don’t want or like?”

Rowan tilted her head to one side and regarded Len with somewhat bemused interest. She hadn’t necessarily expected such a clear understanding on his part of the kinds of baggage she might have and fears she was struggling to let go of so she could fully enjoy this situation.

“Not anything too out of the ordinary I don’t think. If I don’t like something I’ll just tell you and…” she paused.

“And I’ll stop,” Len finished with a serious look in his eyes. “Okay by me…we can go as slow or as fast as you want. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Rowan felt much better having had this conversation.

It wasn’t even Len’s history as a sometimes-violent criminal that had Rowan on edge so much. It was that, mixed with how isolated they were here at his home in the woods with no one knowing where she was…and a very certain knowledge that any man could turn out to be less upstanding than he seemed once the lights were out.

Unfortunately, that was a fact of life Rowan had never really had the luxury of not knowing. Truth was, this was not a situation she would normally find herself in unless she was running full-steam ahead on her way out of it. Funny that it would turn out to be Leonard Snart who seemed worth making an exception for.

Len let his eyes flow slowly over Rowan’s body, seeming to enjoy having a chance to look at her at his leisure. He reached out and gently grazed her right arm with the tips of his fingers, his eyes meeting hers again as she continued to gaze down at his ridiculously gorgeous face.

No wonder she was acting the way she was. The man should have had a warning label, he was so absurdly sexy and attractive.

Rowan was an excruciatingly self-disciplined individual; but she was only human after all. Self-discipline could only hold so long and go so far. Whatever happened, Rowan knew in her soul of souls she couldn’t have fairly been expected to say no to this opportunity to just once in her life give herself permission to pursue pleasure with a person who, deep down, she really, really wanted.

Len’s fingers traced a line down Rowan’s right arm and then moved around to rest on the small of her back. He gently pulled her closer to the bed and placed his other hand on her hip, guiding her onto his lap so that she was straddling him, her arms coming to rest on his shoulders.

Rowan had never looked into Len’s eyes from so close up before and she marvelled at the unusual mix of blue and hazel they were. She’d never been entirely sure of their colour, as sometimes they looked blue, sometimes green, sometimes greyish and sometimes hazel.

He looked intense and lustful again, moving the hand he’d had on her hip a bit lower onto her thigh and pulling her in closer to him, making sure she was secure and wouldn’t fall backwards.

He moved his other hand up to the back of her shoulders and then her head and gently guided her face toward his so that their lips were suddenly touching and he was flicking his tongue inside her already parted mouth.

Rowan’s whole body was suddenly ablaze as she felt the softness of Len’s initial kiss quickly become more passionate and urgent, as if he’d been waiting for this for so long he could barely contain his enthusiasm and desire. She shifted on his lap and his hand moved over her ass, caressing it gently, then more firmly, before he slipped his hand underneath her skirt, getting another good feel of her, this time with no clothes in the way.

Rowan’s hands were all over Len’s back, shoulders and chest as she gave herself over to the heat and passion that were ignited between them. She realised she’d wanted to be with Len like this since they’d met at the party; well, a lot longer than that if she was being completely honest.

She gasped softly as Len slid one of his hands, palm open, all the way up the front of her body, over her stomach, ghosting over both of her breasts as he stopped kissing her long enough to glance down at them as he did this, admiring how they looked, all pushed up and round looking as both his hands now cupped and moved over them, enjoying their fullness and the easy access he had to them.

His eyes flicked back to hers and he slowly turned his body back toward the centre of his bed, gently manoeuvring Rowan down alongside him so she was now lying back against a pillow as his body moved to be flush beside and then partially on top of hers.

He carefully rearranged her hair so she wouldn’t be lying uncomfortably on it. He gazed down at her, seeming to enjoy looking at her for a moment, then started kissing her again, his hands moving all over her now, sending waves of electric pleasure all through her body.

Rowan generally had trouble letting go with the few men she’d been intimate with in her life, but she found herself caught up in the moment and responding to Len in kind. Her hands moved all over him as she tried to explore his rather large and sinewy body, the size and strength of which she had to admit, seriously turned her on.

Suddenly, she remembered something and reluctantly pulled away from the luxurious kiss Len was enthusiastically and generously sharing with her eager mouth.

“I forgot to tell you…I’m not on the pill.” Rowan looked up at Len, whose expression betrayed that he was just as caught up in the intense excitement of the moment as she felt. 

“I’m sorry…I just thought you should know. I mean condoms are probably the best overall anyway but…I’m just saying they won’t be backed up pill wise.”

Len looked down at Rowan with what she could only interpret to be a fond, if amused, expression. 

“So, so earnest Ro.” He smirked and chuckled slightly. “I’m willing to put my faith in the rubbers I have if you are.”

He reached over to a bedside table and pulled open a drawer, taking out a bottle of lube and a box of condoms. He set the lube on the table and showed the box to Rowan while propping his head on his hand.

“See, premium quality. It even says so on the box.” His features fixed onto their most mischievous setting.

Rowan took a cursory look at the box. They were, she had to admit, a very reputable brand, and she did notice the expiry date was a good two years into the future so all looked well.

“For the record, I wasn’t so worried about you not having the right stuff. I just didn’t want there to be any potential for misunderstandings given the 1 – 3 % failure rate of condoms even when used consistently and correctly.”

“Let me guess Ro…you’re an ‘if anything can go wrong it probably will’ type of person.”

Rowan frowned and was about to qualify that point by half disagreeing but Len held up a hand to stop her. “No need to justify anything…I’m the same. I like to plan for all contingencies. Every now and then I find it pays to take a small, calculated risk though. You still in Rowan?”

Rowan always found it interesting when Len chose to use her full name. He seemed to save it for particularly pivotal moments.

“Yeah…I’m still in Len.” Rowan’s voice was breathy as she lay back down on the pillow.

Len put the condom box down on the table and resumed his position on top of her while Rowan traced her fingertips down his chest. He settled himself so that he was comfortable and smirked flirtatiously. “Good,” he breathed into her ear, purposely blowing extra air into it so that she reacted by squirming away a little and scrunching up her face.

“That tickles,” she smiled up at Len, feeling even more comfortable with him than before.

“Good,” he said again, this time starting to tickle her with his hands around her stomach and sides.

Rowan was extremely sensitive to tickling and started to giggle while trying to fend off Len’s hands. 

“Okay, you know how you asked me if there was anything I didn’t like before?” Rowan gasped out when she was able to catch her breath. “Well this is it…please stop tickling me…like now!”

Len stopped but was still smiling. “Sorry Ro…couldn’t resist. Now where were we before we got side tracked?”

Len didn’t miss a beat but started kissing Rowan again fervently, his lips once more soft at first but then increasingly pressing and hungry, his tongue flicking around inside her mouth like he wanted to explore every part of it again and again.

They kissed like that for a while, Rowan responding likewise with her tongue, Len continuing to explore her body with his gentle but firm and probing hands. He then breathed huskily in her ear, “I want to take your dress off now.”

Rowan was panting from the prolonged kissing and exhaled, “Okay, but then I’ll be totally naked and you’re still fully clothed.”

“Don’t worry Ro.” Len smirked with playful eyes. “I’ll let you take my clothes off soon, I promise.”

“Hmmmm…” Rowan murmured. She looked up at Len who was once again lying half beside and half on top of her while toying with the edge of her dress.

They sat up and Len slowly slipped his hands underneath the two straps of Rowan’s outfit and gently pulled them downward so they fell off of her shoulders to hang around her upper arms. He ghosted his fingers over her shoulders and feathered light kisses across her collarbones, then sucked and licked gently all over her shoulders and neck.

“Your skin is so smooth…it’s like…silk.” His voice was rich and deep. Len seemed almost lost in his enjoyment of feeling the skin on her shoulders and upper arms.

He let his mouth move downward to Rowan’s breasts and likewise kissed the parts of them the dress revealed before sitting up and smiling seductively. His hands moved to her back, grazing over her skin before he took hold of the small zipper at the top of her dress and began moving it inexorably down toward the small of her back. 

He sat back and took his time as he pulled the satiny material downward, fully exposing Rowan’s breasts, then her abdominal area. Finally he pulled the dress all the way off as Rowan lay back to make that possible, leaving her completely naked to Len’s appreciative gaze.

He sat just looking for a few moments. “You really are beautiful,” he whispered convincingly. He traced his fingers down Rowan’s side, then let his hands glance over more of her as he continued to gaze at her. “You’re so beautifully shaped.”

“Thanks,” Rowan breathed, rather shyly. She felt pretty safe with him at this point and reflected that at least insofar as their somewhat unlikely sexual forays went, what she saw of Len seemed to be pretty much what she was going to continue to get.

Of course, there was no way for Len not to notice the various small scars here and there, mostly thin nicks from minor cuts that hadn’t been a big deal. Rowan tensed slightly when she saw Len’s eyes land on her major scar though, which was almost exactly where she knew his most recent bullet wound scar would be on his own body.

Len’s eyes narrowed slightly, considering. His fingers traced the smooth line, ever so lightly, like a butterfly walking across her skin. “Bullet or knife?”

Rowan’s eyes darted away for a moment, which was not missed by Len. 

“Bullet,” Rowan said softly, when her eyes returned to meet Len’s. “But it was only a graze. Pretty deep but it went straight through. It was…work related.”

“Hmmmm.” Len pushed his lips out slightly, like he was not pleased at this new knowledge. “A story for another time?”

Rowan was grateful Len didn’t ask her to share any details right away. That would definitely be a mood killer. She nodded weakly, preferring not to agree to anything verbally so she could at least imagine she might potentially get out of sharing altogether whenever ‘another time’ came. She doubted Len would accept that too easily but the thought calmed her anyway.

Len nodded back to her and let his hands move on to other areas of her body. He seemed to enjoy taking his time touching her and looking at her, exploring her with his deft hands as she reacted to his caresses with occasional ticklishness, even though he wasn’t trying for that anymore.

Len’s hands truly were remarkable. Rowan vaguely considered how all his years of pick pocketing and honing their dexterity and agility for the most delicate theft related jobs had likely made them extremely nimble and sensitive.

She had to admit she didn’t feel guilty that she was reaping the benefits of all that skill now. To be fair, Len had obviously started out in his criminal career just trying to survive his father so he could hardly be blamed for having such great hands as a result.

Len started kissing Rowan again and let one hand trail down her back to rest on her rather shapely ass, which fast seemed to be becoming a favourite spot of his. He let his hand linger there for a while, tracing delicate patterns across the soft, firm skin, then slid his fingers lower and positioned them between her legs.

“Do you mind?” Len whispered in Rowan’s ear.

“No, I don’t mind.” Rowan smiled as Len gently massaged her clit and surrounding folds for a while, then inhaled sharply as Len gingerly pushed one of his fingers up inside of her. He simultaneously pulled her up against him so she could feel his very hard cock rub up against her clit through his clothes.

“When do I get to take your clothes off?” Rowan asked with a slightly mocking tone of helplessness.

“Soon…just let me enjoy you a little more like this and then you can do whatever you want with me.” Len’s voice was a husky whisper.

Len gently pushed his finger in and out of her several times, trailing his other hand upwards along her body. He very lightly took hold of her wrist on that side and pulled it up until he was holding it firmly just to the side of her head. It was a dominant kind of gesture but he enacted it so tenderly and slowly it didn’t really feel like a power move at all. It felt more playful and sensual than anything else, though it did have the effect of turning Rowan on even more than she had been already.

He kept kissing her and holding her like that for a good few minutes, slipping his finger, then two fingers in and out of her, rubbing his cock against her clit through his jeans, while he sucked on her neck, upper chest and breasts.

Rowan was vaguely surprised she didn’t feel worried about Len’s holding her in place that way, but he was so calm and gentle and deliberate it was easy for her to feel relaxed and to enjoy the exhilaration of the moment. Damn he was good at this!

Rowan’s free hand caressed Len’s scalp, then moved over his neck, back, shoulders and chest as he continued exploring and pleasuring her with his fingers.

Finally, he sat up, gently slipping his fingers out of her and pulling Rowan up into a sitting position with him. He glanced at her and kissed her one more time, smoothing her hair down as it had become quite dishevelled. Rowan noticed an almost wistful expression on his face as he seemed to study hers.

He flicked his eyes downward and then up again as he very slowly pulled his turtleneck over his head revealing his bare upper body. He was lithe and sinewy, slim but well muscled. Rowan noticed this instantly, just as she instantly absorbed why Len may have hesitated to take his shirt off.

His entire torso, shoulders, chest, stomach, upper and to some extent lower arms were covered in scars. Some were small, some were large, some looked like they’d been caused by a relatively minor cut, others were clearly echoes of much deeper, more serious wounds. Some looked like they’d been caused by the broken edge of a bottle. Still others looked suspiciously like cigarette burns. A few looked like the scarred over remnants of welt marks.

Rowan had seen some truly horrible things in her life. She was, in fact, more acquainted with the horrors of extreme child abuse than she would ever have wanted to be. But she had never before seen someone with so much evidence of physical torture sustained in childhood and youth frozen on their body as she now saw before her on Len.

She looked into his eyes and saw a kind of honest resolve that stirred an admiration in Rowan that hit her like a powerful gust of wind. It was almost as if something she had been suspecting about Len for a long time had finally come into sharp focus. He was not just a survivor but someone who had sacrificed himself over and over again to spare another person, his sister, the horrors he’d somehow managed to reconcile himself to.

Rowan had known Len’s early life had been really terrible…but somehow she’d never quite imagined it had been this brutal. Len was more covered with scars than anyone Rowan had ever seen.

All this blew through her mind in a single moment, and as she gazed into Len’s eyes she began to also perceive a profound, deeply buried pain, along with an almost hidden flicker of resigned sadness that rose to the surface of his face and then quickly receded again.

Rowan was at a loss for words for a few moments.

Then she said softly, “Your father.” She didn’t inflect her voice in question, as she already knew the answer.

“Yep,” Len responded with a cold edge to his voice, “my so-called father. Well, except for the odd mark here and there from a job or two.” Len looked down at one of his arms. “…and one or two others...” Len’s voice trailed off.

Rowan instinctively understood that it was a big deal for Len to reveal his scar-covered body to her, even if he’d long-since accepted them as part of himself, so she didn’t want to make this moment any harder than it might already be.

She leaned forward and kissed Len softly, first on the lips, then on his cheeks and along his jaw line and neck. Then she started to work her way down across his shoulders, along all the lines that had been so cruelly drawn on his body in violence by a person who should have taken care of Len and protected him, but instead had brutalised him.

She continued tracing all the lines cut into his body with her lips, and then her tongue. She moved across his chest and stomach, gently pushing him down so that he was now lying with his head comfortably resting on a pillow while she continued to gently trace the labyrinth of his scars with her fingers and mouth.

He exhaled deeply and looked down at Rowan. She peered up at him as she kissed and licked his stomach, noticing the mixture of pain and pleasure on his face. She blazed a path back upward toward his shoulders and kissed his neck as she trailed her fingers over his chest and stomach.

She let her hands linger and caress his lower abdominal area and he shuddered. She ran her hands just underneath the waistband of his pants and asked, “Can I take these off now?” Len smiled and made a soft sound like half a chuckle.

“Yeah, but I’d better help. They’re kind of tight.” Len sat up but let Rowan unbutton and unzip his pants. He knelt for a moment and let her pull them downwards and then helped her get them all the way off. A moment later his underwear was off too and he and Rowan were finally naked together.

“Come here, I want to kiss you again,” Len said.

Len pulled Rowan close as she lay beside him and he resumed kissing her while entwining one of his hands in her hair. He slid his other hand down her back and their bodies finally touched all along their lengths.

Rowan felt so turned on all she wanted was for Len to penetrate her already, but he seemed to want to take his time. Still, they must have been on the same wavelength because Len kissed Rowan’s neck, then reached over to the box of condoms and opened it to pull one out while managing to continue kissing Rowan the entire time. 

Rowan was so ready for this, she vaguely marvelled at how conflicted she had been earlier.

Len kept kissing her intermittently as he carefully opened the condom package. He grabbed the lube and expertly squeezed a couple of drops into the tip of the condom.

“Stroke me a bit before I put this on?” Rowan obliged and slipped her hand down Len’s body until she was able to grasp Len’s very hard cock, running her hand up and down and all around, enjoying the smoothness of it.

Rowan kissed Len along his collarbones and neck while still stroking him. He responded with increasing urgency to her kisses and suddenly he pulled away, quickly unrolling the condom along the length of his cock and then gently grabbing one of Rowan’s hands. He smiled at her with only a slight smirk and squeezed a good amount of lube into her palm. 

“Coat me?” Len breathed, his voice a low rasp.

Rowan obliged once more, running her closed hand down his body until she reached his cock again, now snugly covered by the condom. She rubbed her thumb in circles over its tip a few times, smearing the lube down his length, making sure it was well distributed.

“Maybe I should put on a bit more.”

“Yeah,” Len responded breathlessly.

Rowan held her hand out for more lube and this time it was Len who obliged. Rowan dropped her hand back down to continue lubing his cock, enjoying the feel of it, thick and firm in her hand.

Len exhaled, “That feels really good”.

He squeezed some lube onto his own hand, found Rowan’s folds and opening and gently spread the lube around and up inside her.

Then he put the lube container down, sharing a small towel with Rowan to wipe the cool gel off their hands. He shifted onto his side, and looked her in the eyes. “You ready?”

“Yes,” Rowan breathed. She felt like she had never been more ready for anything in her life.

Len continued to look deeply into her eyes as he positioned himself on top of her and started to guide his cock with his hand, gently pushing inside her as she opened herself to him. Len’s eyes flicked down briefly as he pushed himself further into her. When they flicked up again, they were blown out with lust.

Rowan had only ever gone this far sexually with one other person, which she suspected might make her seem like a rare anomaly in this day and age, at least to some people. It had been quite a while too since she’d last been with her former lover so it felt a bit overwhelming to suddenly be so intimate with someone again, regardless of who it was.

Len was turning out to be the perfect lover as far as Rowan was concerned though, and she marvelled at this surprising turn of events. She couldn’t think of a time she’d ever been even close to this turned on and simultaneously so at ease.

Rowan had never been with anyone significantly taller or larger than her. Len had a good half-foot on her height-wise and was generally a pretty sizable guy. She wasn’t petite but was slightly smaller than people realised looking at her, as she often wore clothing that didn’t quite reveal the actual size of her frame.

It was a bit of an adjustment, but it didn’t take long for Rowan to get used to it. She liked the feeling of being surrounded by Len, the potency of his presence intoxicating. 

He continued to gently push himself further and further inside her with each thrust of, what Rowan considered to be, his perfectly proportioned cock. He noticed she had tensed slightly, however, and sensed it was just this side of painful for her. 

He eased up a bit and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, “Does it hurt?”

Rowan responded, “Just a little…I think it will feel better soon.”

Len exhaled, “I have to say Rowan sweetheart, you’re really, really tight.” He was starting to breathe harder than before.

Rowan looked away and sighed softly. She decided to let him in on the fact she did not have a long and varied history of sexual activity with men, or anyone for that matter.

“You’re only the second man I’ve ever been with like this.” Rowan met Len’s eyes.

Len looked down at Rowan with a funny expression on his face, seemingly a mixture of surprise, arousal and perplexity.

“Hmm…so either you generally prefer women, or you really are a good girl, aren’t you?”

“Hey, there’s not really any such thing as being a good girl or a bad girl you know!”

Rowan couldn’t help blurting out her reaction, even as she knew it was at least partially due to her sensitivity to conclusions being drawn regarding her relative lack of sexual experience and interest. It all came out sounding breathless and husky though so Rowan figured she probably didn’t sound very convincing at the moment anyway.

Len chuckled as he continued to thrust into her, now taking it slowly and being extra gentle.

“Relax Ro honey, I’m just playing with you,” Len’s eyes gleamed with mischief and he kissed Rowan gently on the lips. “Does it feel better now?”

Rowan did feel more relaxed and breathed, “Yeah, I’m getting more used to it.”

She decided she’d save a more fulsome explanation of her sexual tendencies for some other time.

Rowan ran her hands over Len’s shoulders and down the sides of his biceps as her eyes lingered over his body. He had struck an easygoing rhythm and was propped up on his elbows, lying on top of Rowan without putting almost any weight on her. He ran the fingers of one hand across her forehead and then down the side of her face, then through her hair.

“Does it feel good for you?” Rowan asked.

Len smirked gently and breathed, “Hmhmmm…you have _no_ idea. I want this to feel good for you too though. Maybe if you were on top it would work better for you.”

“Hmmm…maybe…but I’m kind of comfortable this way right now.”

“I’m aiming a lot higher than just making you feel comfortable Ro.” Len employed his signature drawl but somehow it sounded different in this context, like he was just being playful.

Rowan laughed softly. “I guess I should also tell you that I’ve never actually come with anyone before.”

Len tilted his head to one side and looked both shocked and quizzical. “Seriously?”

Rowan realised she had actually taken him aback.

“I just don’t want you to be too disappointed if I can’t get to where you go pleasure or…release wise.”

Rowan suddenly worried Len might not understand fully what she was telling him so she somewhat nervously soldiered on with her explanation. “Len, I just…I’m not really the most sexual kind of person and I tend to have trouble letting go with people…it has nothing to do with you…or…” Her voice trailed off as she found herself unsure how to continue.

“Not a problem Ro. As long as you’re good with what’s happening we don’t need to stress about coming or not. Still…you know I love a challenge.” One corner of Len’s mouth lifted into a devilish smirk and his eyes took on an attractive mix of lust and merriment. 

“I have a few ideas on how to help you let go…if you’re up for them.” Len was regarding Rowan now with a slightly more serious look on his face. He gently traced the outline of her lips and bent down to kiss her slowly.

When Len parted his lips from hers Rowan breathed, “Go ahead and give it your best shot. I’m up for just about anything at this point.”

Len smiled at Rowan, his eyes all of a sudden ablaze with mischief, looking like he was challenging her to trust him enough to experiment a bit. Then, all of a sudden, he grabbed both her wrists and pulled Rowan’s arms up over her head, holding her more firmly than he had earlier when he’d held her in place.

As she looked up into Len’s stunning and almost overwhelmingly intense eyes, Rowan wondered how her evening had ended up being so profoundly exciting and enjoyable, rather than the one she had been dreading up until the point Len had appeared before her back at that fateful party.

All thought soon evaporated as Len let her feel the full strength of his body as he pressed in all around her and firmly held her so she couldn’t move while he continued to thrust her languorously, like he had all the time in the world.

Len chuckled and drawled huskily in her ear, “We’ll see about that.”


	4. Best Laid Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a relaxing yet steamy morning, Len and Rowan have their most fateful conversation yet...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone's still safe and healthy out there! Thank you so much to everyone who is reading this and has left a comment or kudos or has bookmarked this work. It really means a lot to me! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's one of the longest of the whole story, but it's an important one. (:

Len lay still, listening to the first few birds starting to chirp in the pre-dawn darkness, heralding the coming dawn. He was drowsy and suspected he might just drift off before fully wakening a little later in the morning.

He had not really slept yet, but instead had been resting his body while his mind remained on, reflecting loosely on the events of the night before, acutely aware of the figure nestled snugly beside him.

Rowan had drifted off to sleep some time ago. Len listened now to her slow, soft, rhythmic breathing, in and out, so close to him she sounded like an ocean gently lapping at the shores of his awareness.

As he listened to her breathing, he finally started to fall asleep. His last thoughts before slumber were hopes that when he woke up she would still be there and this rather singular feeling episode in his life wouldn’t turn out to be a dream; vivid as direct sunlight but in the end nothing more than a tantalizing fantasy.

~

When Len awoke the sun had risen and the soft light peeking through the semi-closed blinds of the windows suggested to him it was probably about 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning.

He turned his head silently to see that Rowan was still sound asleep beside him and she didn’t seem to have shifted much since earlier. Len felt a wave of a very unfamiliar feeling wash over him. He realised it was pure, unadulterated happiness; something his life had afforded him very little of.

He carefully turned his whole body toward Rowan, trying his best not to do anything that might wake her. He propped his head up on his hand and watched her while she slept, noting how relaxed her face looked, holding the innocent visage of sleep.

He was tempted to touch her face but decided not to risk waking her yet. Instead he rolled soundlessly onto his back and exhaled softly. He lay contemplating what this unexpected turn of events could possibly mean for him.

He’d wondered how reconnecting with Rowan would go while he was still in Aruba and he’d thought about it even more, of course, since coming back to Central. However, he’d never once imagined anything like the scenario that had played out the previous night, or that things would take this very welcome turn so quickly and easily. It seemed too good to be true and yet…here they were. 

A broad smile spread across Len’s face as he remembered how pleasurable sex with Rowan had been. The physical enjoyment had been exceptional but it had also been a lot of fun just playing around with her.

For someone who apparently hadn’t been particularly sexual in her life, for whatever reasons, Rowan turned out to be very easygoing and open to new things. It had been a while since Len had played the field so to speak, and he hadn’t ever been with anyone quite like Rowan before, but Len felt his past experiences with a pretty diverse range of people had come in really handy last night.

In his time, he had been with people who were vastly more experienced and adventurous than he was, some with comparable experiences and tastes, as well as with much less experienced lovers. Thus, he was pretty comfortable with just about any sexual scenario, as long as it was above board and all parties were willing.

Rowan was unusual though, in that despite her lack of quantity of lovers, she had clearly developed enough confidence and skill to be a pretty relaxed and adept one; yet somehow she’d never come with her previous partner?

That struck Len as somewhat concerning. He got that there were people, maybe women in particular, who had a lot of blocks to experiencing pleasure, sometimes due to abuse experiences or whatnot; but he didn’t know enough about Rowan to make any assumptions. He certainly had a lot of questions that he hoped he’d have a chance to ask at some point. 

He briefly wondered if she might be greysexual. He resolved to ask her if she thought of herself that way at some point, not that labels mattered so much really.

His gamble that she might respond to some very light BDSM had paid off, as mildly removing her options for movement and physical avoidance of him seemed to work like a charm. The more he asserted physical control over her, while making it clear he’d stop what he was doing immediately if she wanted him to, the more she was able to let go and enjoy herself, finally climaxing just before he let himself, after an extremely enjoyable build up.

Good thing too because Len was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to hold out much longer had he needed to. Rowan had been making these soft gaspy, whimper-like sounds as he slowly but powerfully thrust into her and it had nearly driven him out of his mind it turned him on so much.

It was a big deal to Len and a serious matter of pride that he be successful at pleasuring his sexual partners at least as much as they pleasured him so he was glad Rowan had proven a challenge he could meet on his first try. He looked forward to exploring further avenues of pleasure with her, given any chance at all.

Len thought about how great it would be if Rowan were up for getting together on a regular basis. He wasn’t sure she’d be interested in more than that, but if she had enjoyed herself even half as much as Len had last night, she might be open to at least a casual ongoing sexual relationship. Even getting together once in a while would be excellent.

Len was used to taking what he could get when it came to human companionship so he tried not to think about anything beyond that. He was wary of getting his hopes up too much for what he really wanted because, if he were being honest, that would be more than casual sex.

As he was contemplating all this a more disturbing thought intruded on his reflections.

Back at that idiot Bancroft’s place Len had been mildly disturbed at the thought of Rowan subjecting herself to the possibility of having to fool around with random and, in Len’s view, completely undesirable strangers to accomplish her goals of the night. At the time though, he figured she must have her reasons and know what she was doing.

When he thought about it now though, knowing what he had since learned about her, he was suddenly much more concerned. What could be so important that a relatively not so sexual woman would put herself in a situation where she could end up having to do who knows how much messing around in what was actually a pretty dangerous situation?

Len had seen what an impressive fighter Rowan was, so he could imagine her counting on her wits and hand-to-hand prowess to get her out of any trouble she might find herself in but there were still a lot of variables that would be hard to control in a situation like that.

Len had resolved the previous night not to push too hard on these types of questions. However, now that he thought about the whole scenario more deeply he felt he really needed to know for even more reasons than before.

He was in the midst of telling himself, yet again, that he should be careful not to get his hopes up about this whole experience, lest he end up disappointed, when he felt Rowan stir slightly beside him.

He turned back towards her and this time he did gently touch her hair and let his fingers ghost over her cheek. Rowan’s eyes opened slowly and she startled slightly as she scanned the room before her gaze came to rest on Len. She relaxed when she saw him.

“Hey,” she said softly and sleepily. “For a moment there I didn’t know where I was.”

Len felt some satisfaction that seeing him had relaxed her, rather than alarmed her more.

“Good morning,” he drawled in full Captain Cold cadence, with only the slightest hint of a smirk playing at his lips. “Sleep well?”

“Pretty well, I guess…” Rowan yawned. “I still feel really tired though. I’m not really a morning person, even when I haven’t been up half the night.” 

She smiled softly and looked up at Len with a mischievous glint playing on her features. Having trailed her for several months way back when, Len was well aware of that fact but chose not to mention he already knew it.

He returned her smile, stretched and looked past Rowan to the clock radio on the table near her side of the bed and saw that it was only 8:16 am. 

“Good news is it’s still pretty early so you can rest more if you want. You have anywhere you need to be today?” Ever the consummate planner, Len had already plotted out his approach for the day, hoping Rowan would go along with it.

“Not really,” Rowan said, still sounding very sleepy. “My neighbour’s fine looking after Snuggles until tomorrow evening so I don’t have to rush off anywhere.” She paused. “You really don’t mind if I sleep in a bit?”

“Sleep in all you want…I have no particular plans for today either.” 'Well apart from those involving more fun with you,' Len thought to himself. Len paused, hoping he wouldn’t sound too premeditated with his next suggestion. “Why don’t you spend the day out here then and I can drive you back to the city sometime tomorrow?”

Rowan’s eyes kept opening and then starting to close again. She _really_ wasn’t much for mornings, unlike Len who’d always been an early bird. Now her eyes flashed open focusing on Len’s and it was her turn for a smirk to appear at the corners of her mouth.

“Already looking ahead to tonight’s activities are we?” Rowan’s tone was playful and teasing. 

“Stay here with me today and believe me you won’t have to wait until tonight for more fun activities. In fact I don’t foresee us leaving this bed without some healthy morning exercise.”

Len’s tone was mirthful but also sensuous as he shifted forward slightly and started running his fingers along Rowan’s bare collarbone, over her shoulder and down her arm.

“So you still want more of me?” Rowan was clearly doing her best to keep up with their playful repartee while her head threatened to sink deeply back into her pillow at any moment, her mind drifting off again. Len kissed her lightly on the cheek and then the lips.

“Yeah, I do. But I think you need to sleep a bit longer for now sweetheart. You’re clearly exhausted. Don’t blame you really…I did show you a pretty good time last night didn’t I?”

“Hmmmhmmm…really good time…” Rowan needed no more encouragement than that before closing her eyes and seeming to drift away again.

Len lightly kissed her shoulder before gingerly getting up out of bed and going to the bathroom to relieve himself and wash his hands and face. ‘So far, so good,’ he thought, quite pleased with himself and the whole situation. Rowan didn’t seem in any hurry to leave and was free for the weekend, which was what Len wanted. 

By that night he hoped to have some sense of what Rowan’s deal was at Bancroft’s house and in general, and it seemed like he would get more of some other things besides intel he wanted as well.

When Len glanced at Rowan from the bathroom door she appeared fast asleep so he decided to go ahead and have a shower. It would have been fun to shower together but he didn’t want to wait because, unlike Rowan, he’d only grabbed a really quick one the night before in the small bathroom he had downstairs.

The warm water felt good and Len noticed his body was still tingly from the pleasure and powerful stress release he’d experienced only a few hours before. By the time he’d dried himself off he felt relaxed and refreshed in a way he wasn’t sure he could remember ever feeling before.

He brushed his teeth and then went out to the kitchen to get a drink of water. He wasn’t really hungry yet, which surprised him. But then his mind might be overriding his body as he was hoping to play around with Rowan again once she was better rested and he preferred not to do that on a full or even half-full stomach.

After lounging around for a while in the kitchen, Len grabbed a book he had just started reading and soundlessly crept back into his bedroom, carefully settling himself back into bed next to Rowan.

He smiled as he watched her sleeping soundly, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. She’d clearly lost her wariness of him, which had emanated from her at various points throughout their adventures the previous night, most strongly when he first brought her into his home, which was, Len had to admit, understandable enough.

It was satisfying for him to think he’d finally won her trust. It had been a slow, uphill battle, admittedly of his own creation, harkening back to the now infamous meta-humans transport incident.

In retrospect, he had to concede he’d fought his attraction to her from the beginning, trying to keep his intensifying feelings at bay as he researched and trailed her, and even since she’d saved his life. As it turned out, Mick had been right all along; his interest in her had never been purely strategic.

Len read for a couple of hours while Rowan slept peacefully next to him. It was approaching 11:00 when she finally stirred again.

Len had experienced some difficulty concentrating on his book with Rowan so distractingly close by. Being such an incredibly focused individual though, he’d eventually gotten quite absorbed back into ‘ _Beasts: What animals can teach us about the origins of good and evil_ ’ by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. However, by the time Rowan woke again Len was eager to do something other than read.

Rowan stretched and opened her eyes sleepily while making soft murmuring sounds, all of which had the effect of causing Len to start getting hard. He was so, so ready to play around with her again.

Len peered down at her and she seemed to catch the smoulder of desire in his eyes.

She returned his gaze with a warm smile. He set his book aside and turned back towards her, propped up on one elbow. He gently touched her lips with his fingertips and then leaned down, his lips swiftly capturing hers, gentle but firm, his tongue eagerly gaining entrance to her mouth.

Rowan responded enthusiastically but when she was able to get a breath in she said, “I feel like I need to brush my teeth. I think I have morning mouth.”

“Hmmm…hadn’t noticed,” Len said huskily. He smiled though and continued, “If it makes you feel better…I’ll wait.”

Rowan gave Len a soft smile and said, “Thanks. I’ll just be a couple of minutes.”

She sat up and rose from the bed, Len eyeing her naked form as she walked to the bathroom, taking her bag with her and closing the door behind her. He listened as she brushed her teeth, washed her face and otherwise freshened up.

When she re-emerged she had combed her hair too. She looked slightly self-conscious as she walked back over to the bed, what with Len’s eyes glinting appreciatively as they followed her every move and enjoyed every curve.

Rowan eased herself onto the bed, settling in on her back, looking up at Len who was propped up on one elbow again. Len caressed her closest shoulder and arm and then ran his hands up the front of her body, cupping and caressing both her breasts, gently letting his thumbs brush over her hardening nipples.

He shifted so that he was hovering on top of her without putting any weight on her.

“Feel better?” he drawled with only a slight smirk.

“Yeah…much better.”

Len moved one hand up to run his fingers through Rowan’s hair, then slowly trailed it down her back, flitting over her ass, giving it a quick squeeze before trailing his hand around to her front and poising his fingers between her legs.

“This okay?” he breathed.

“Yeah…you seem…really ready.” Len’s cock was rock hard and ready to go and he knew Rowan could feel just how hard he was as he pressed against her thigh.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been up for a while,” Len teased. He was kissing her gently and deliberately while deftly slipping a finger, then two fingers inside her with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. His rhythm was slow but Rowan could feel the strength of his elegant fingers as he pressed them against her walls. 

There was something about the way he touched her and looked at her and checked in with her that caused Rowan to feel free to enjoy herself in a way she never had before. Somewhat strangely and unexpectedly, she’d come to feel totally safe with Len and it caused her to want to open up to him entirely, not just physically but in other ways too.

Len’s breathing was becoming heavy and he started kissing Rowan’s neck and then the outside of her ear. He blew into it and then flicked his tongue inside. Rowan twisted and giggled at the concentrated intensity of pleasure that caused her, her ears being so sensitive and such an erogenous area of her body.

Len had a condom on hand at the side of his pillow and he grabbed some lube from the bedside table nearest him. This time he put on the condom and lubed himself up in record time.

“I’m so turned on right now,” Len breathed as he carefully smeared some lube inside Rowan too. “You’re still good with this?”

“Yeah,” Rowan breathed. “You’re so…hmmm…wow!”

Permission having been given, Len was already starting to push his cock inside of her and Rowan was surprised at how amazing it felt right away.

“I stretched you out pretty good last night I’d say.” Len seemed to read Rowan’s thoughts. “You seem much more relaxed than when we first started last night.”

“Yeah…it doesn’t hurt this time.”

“Good!” Len gave Rowan a pleased yet wicked looking smile, then breathed into her ear, his voice a raspy whisper. “I wanna keep you good and stretched while you’re here. That way you’ll enjoy everything right away, no matter when we start up again.”

“You really know what you’re doing don’t you?”

“I like to think so.” Len’s eyes were playful but full of smouldering desire.

Len and Rowan ceased talking for a while, as they both revelled in the intensity of their physical connection. Len set a moderate pace that kept them both in a state of extreme pleasure, mixed with anticipation for more. When he started to speed up, it seemed to Rowan she was about to fall off a cliff with him and there was nothing she’d ever wanted more intensely.

“We should have done this months ago.” Len’s voice was breathy and had never sounded so deep and potent and utterly sexual.

She nodded as best she could with him thrusting in and out of her with his powerful body, setting every single one of her nerve endings on fire.

“Yeah,” Rowan managed to whisper. “But…months ago you weren’t around and…this is pretty good right now isn’t it?”

“It’s...fantastic!” Len breathed. “You’re right Ro honey…now is all that matters. As long as we get to…hmmm…fuck like this from now on, that’s the important thing.”

“Hmmm…yeah.” Rowan’s head lolled back and Len could sense she was close to hitting her climax so he sped up even more and within a few seconds she was coming apart all around him, making those sexy sounds again that caused him to just lose all control and fall completely off the cliff of his own orgasm.

As Len rode through both their orgasms he felt he’d never experienced any pleasure as intense and powerful as what he just had, even the night before. Damn, he’d never expected Rowan to take him to such new heights of physical sensation.

And it wasn’t just physical either. Len felt like they were connecting somehow with the edges of the universe and, for a few moments, they’d become the centre of it.

It felt amazing and he was getting a strong sense from the look on Rowan’s face as she caught her breath beneath him that she’d just had a hell of good time too.

Len collapsed beside her and pulled her close to him, Rowan eagerly wrapping her arms around him and snuggling up against his warm chest. Clearly she was a cuddler and Len had to admit, he liked holding her close. At least for now, she obviously wasn’t going anywhere and that filled Len with a feeling of contentment he wasn’t used to.

“Can we just…stay like this for a while?” Rowan asked in a relaxed yet longing voice.

“Sure.” Len held her even closer. “We can do whatever you want Ro. Whatever you want.”

Len kissed Rowan’s forehead and they lay wrapped in each other’s arms for a long while.

~

Rowan opened the door to the living area, feeling clean and refreshed after her shower. Len was at the stove patiently stirring the steaming contents of a pot.

She couldn’t help but smile inwardly at the domestic feel of the scene, unlikely as it all was. Len still managed to look pretty intense though, even while stirring, reminding her just who she was observing. Somehow that made everything seem even that much more improbable.

Rowan had dressed in the change of clothes she’d brought with her on her mission; some fairly form fitting black jeans and a deep burgundy t-shirt with a neat abstract design on the front and cut-outs at the shoulders. It was a practical outfit but in character enough that it would have worked had she needed to extend her role-playing beyond last night for whatever reason.

Len shot her a sideways glance, taking in her appearance as the corners of his mouth turned upward. She didn’t even bother trying to stop herself from letting her eyes wander over him in return, reflecting on what an exceptionally attractive man he was, no matter what the circumstance or setting. 

Rowan hoped she wasn’t being too shallow thinking that. Oh, what the hell! She gave herself permission to be shallow for a weekend. Damn he was fine! She willed away all the erotic thoughts and cravings she was suddenly drowning in, now that she’d made a clear decision about whether she was going to allow herself to think of him that way or not. 

She forced herself back into casual mode, slowly walking closer to Len, noting it was dark cocoa he was stirring. She leaned on the wall closest to the stove and smiled, tilting her head to one side.

“Have a good shower?” Len’s voice was soft but flirty as his eyes flicked over her suggestively.

“Hmmhmm.” Rowan’s smile widened as she directed it at Len. “Is that your famous cocoa I’ve heard so much about?”

Len inclined his head as he peered at Rowan through his lashes, smirking an affirmative. “I thought it would be apt, considering our…history.” Len’s smirk deepened.

Rowan laughed. “Right…that one other time we had hot chocolate together.” 

“I’d say it was a memorable time…for me anyway.” Len looked earnestly at Rowan and, as was often the case, she couldn’t be totally sure if he was being serious or teasing her.

“Oh, don’t worry. It was memorable for me too. You almost dying in my bed is not something I’ll forget anytime soon…or ever.” 

It was true, and Rowan hoped it would reassure Len she’d only been kidding before. She had to admit, despite their conversations in the bedroom and the easy consistency of their joking, she did feel a little unsure where they really stood with each other now. 

Len’s eyes held Rowan’s, then he turned and set aside the wooden spoon he was using to stir the cocoa and walked around the stove to where Rowan was standing. He leaned down, kissing her soundly as he gently held her pressed against the wall. 

When they pulled apart Len sighed, smirking lightly. “I guess I’d better control myself or we’ll never get around to eating.” 

“Guess so.” Rowan ran her hands down his chest and smiled up at him. Len allowed himself a small smile and moved back toward the stove, reaching into a cupboard beside it, pulling out a half full bag of mini-marshmallows.

“Hope you’ll like these,” Len passed Rowan the bag with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

She examined the purple package and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Organic lavender? Seriously?”

Len chuckled a bit. “What can I say Ro? You introduced me to a whole new world of unusually flavoured mini-marshmallows with those pumpkin ones last year. One of the first things I did when I got back to Central was drop by the Big Eggplant and wouldn’t you know these were strategically positioned right at the front of the store. Had to grab them…obviously.”

Rowan read on the ingredients label that there was, indeed, real organic lavender in them and they were the same brand as the pumpkin ones she’d had before. She taste tested a few…they were outstanding!

“Hmmm. Wow! These are amazing!” She paused, looking thoughtful. “When you think about it, it’s actually a great idea. I mean, lavender’s pretty easy to grow in temperate climates and goes great with chocolate. I’m kind of surprised sometimes it’s not in more things. Plus, it’s purple. We don’t eat enough purple foods.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” Len chuckled and turned off the burner. He poured the cocoa into two mugs. It smelled rich and delicious. Rowan set the package of confections on the counter and each of them added a good-sized handful to their cups.

Len had already set his dining room table while Rowan was in the shower and seemed to have a bunch of veggies already cut up and something delicious smelling frying softly on the stove. ‘The man certainly is efficient,’ Rowan reflected to herself, wondering how in the world he’d managed to whip up everything he had during the 20 minutes or so she’d been in the bathroom.

He motioned for her to sit on the couch and they enjoyed their cocoa for a while before he got up again and within ten minutes was serving Rowan an amazing looking veggie omelette with toast and hash browns. He assured her the eggs were free range from a local farmer. Rowan took a moment to appreciate how Len had always shown respect for her vegetarianism and seemed to really understand where it was coming from, even if he wasn’t a vegetarian himself. 

They enjoyed their food accompanied by a continuous flow of flirty, at times silly, banter. Rowan did feel a touch self-conscious in light of all they’d done the night before and earlier that morning but, for the most part, she found herself enjoying Len’s company and the easy going energy they seemed to be able to just fall back into whenever they were together.

Rowan had a sudden realisation that she was really hoping this wouldn’t be the only time she’d get to spend with Len this way. She so seldom got away from all the stresses of her everyday life. Being with Len out in the middle of nowhere felt like an impromptu holiday weekend. Less than 24 hours ago, she never would have imagined this would end up being her Saturday morning.

After their meal was done, Len suggested they move back to the couch. At first Rowan thought he might want to fool around some more but, as she sat down, he actually moved to sit in the chair across from her where he’d sat the night before.

Len settled himself, then leaned back and regarded Rowan with a fond but serious look on his face. They eyed each other for a few moments, then Len looked away, flicking his gaze back to Rowan a moment later.

“Soooo…I’m hoping my patience will finally be rewarded.” Len smiled, with just a hint of a smirk animating his lips. “Or are you still going to try and wiggle your way out of our agreement?”

Rowan exhaled softly. She should have known Len wouldn’t forget their terms from the night before…or let her off the hook just because they’d shared such a good time together.

Still, Rowan couldn’t resist delaying the inevitable just a little bit longer.

“I got the distinct impression you enjoyed it when I wiggled last night…and this morning.” Rowan shot Len the sultriest look she could muster. 

Len’s eyes darkened and, for a moment, his expression was one of unfiltered desire. Then his eyes flicked down and a gentle smirk appeared on his lips. When he raised them they looked fond again, but also determined.

“Look Ro, obviously I can’t force you to tell me anything about what you’re up to.” Len paused. “Well, I could try.” He smirked, then frowned. “But I won’t…of course.” He quirked his head to the side and rolled his eyes slightly.

“We did strike a bargain though and I’d be somewhat…disappointed if your word turned out not to mean anything.” A bemused expression crossed his face, as if he fully appreciated the irony of his saying such a thing to Rowan, of all people. He persevered though. 

“I’d also like to think our most recent…activities meant something more than just a way for you to blow off steam or get out of a tight spot. I’d like to think there’s _some_ trust between us at this point.”

Len angled his head down slightly so that he was looking up at Rowan through his lashes. His expression had become neutral and guarded, but also a touch vulnerable. This clearly meant a lot to him.

Rowan found herself staring down essentially the same question she’d grappled with the night before in the shower. Did she trust Len enough to take the next step with him? Only now, instead of just her own safety being on the line, she had to consider the safety of so many others.

She looked down at her hands. Part of her wished they could just go on the way they had been over the past year or so…well, with the added bonus of the sex, of course. 

She reflected for a few seconds on all that was at stake, all she knew of Len from her own investigations and interactions with him, all she’d shared with him over the last few hours and everything he’d just said.

She took a deep breath and slowly raised her eyes to meet his. He still looked serious and somewhat concerned, his eyes free of their usual filters.

In that moment, while experiencing a significant amount of ongoing apprehension and uncertainty, Rowan made her choice. It was a moment she knew would prove pivotal, either leading to something potentially very good…or irreparably bad.

“All right…” Rowan almost whispered, glancing down, then flicking her eyes up again. 

“…but…and don’t take this the wrong way Len, it’s just fair warning to you.” Her voice became firm. “If you use the information I’m about to share with you in any way that compromises me, my team, or anything we’re working on…I won’t have any control over the consequences for you…or anyone you care about. That has to be crystal clear before I tell you anything.” 

Rowan’s face took on an aspect of stone as she spoke. She couldn’t afford any confusion on Len’s part as to what he was getting himself into.

Len held Rowan’s hard gaze for several seconds, long enough that she thought he might actually decide he wasn’t that interested after all. No such luck though. 

After what appeared to be some serious consideration going on in that always calculating brain of his, Len eventually replied.

“Understood. I’m in.” 

He leaned further back in his chair and brought his hands up towards his face, lacing his fingers together. His expression relaxed slightly and then he breathed, “ _All_ in.”

Rowan sighed inwardly. How did she get herself into these situations? She must be the worst covert operative in the history of covert operatives. And yet, a voice inside of her asserted otherwise. Somehow she felt she was about to do something important…something that might actually help rather than hinder her goals.

She leaned back against the couch while simultaneously trying to sit up a bit straighter. 

“Okay then.” 

‘Well here goes…something?’ she thought.

“How much do you know about Bancroft and all he’s into?”

Rowan’s voice was low but steady. Len tilted his head, regarding her for a moment with a slightly quizzical expression, almost as if he was surprised that he might finally be on the verge of getting some answers to long held questions.

“Enough to know I don’t want any part of it. He’s…a trafficker as far as I can tell. Drugs, arms and…people?” Len raised an eyebrow as if he was guessing at that last one and inviting Rowan to confirm.

Rowan nodded slowly, looking away briefly and then back to Len.

“All of the above would be correct. What you may not know is that the people he trafficks have increasingly included children and youth over the last few years and…I’m sure you understand what they’re primarily being bought and sold for, and how that all turns out for most of them.”

Len’s eyes flashed dangerously as his expression darkened to one of barely contained rage.

Rowan took another deep breath. If she proceeded she would truly be committed. She closed her eyes and hoped she wasn’t in the process of making a huge and terrible mistake.

“Bancroft is really just a cog in a wheel though. He may be a pretty big fish in Central but he’s not in charge of most of what he runs. He’s part of a network of traffickers with international links…but what distinguishes this one from a lot of others is that the kingpin on this side of the world is better connected and protected than most. And considering how connected and protected a lot of these dirt bags are, that’s really saying something.”

Rowan paused to make sure Len was still with her. He looked intense but thoughtful, like he was absorbing every word and nuance of what she was saying and the way she said it, recording it all in his brain for future reflection and analysis.

Len leaned forward. “What exactly do you mean, better protected?”

Rowan hesitated a moment, then trudged onward.

“I mean there is a man at the heart of this particular criminal network that is so well protected by corrupt politicians, corporate leaders and other powerful people that he’s evaded capture by international intelligence agencies and law enforcement for over a decade, even though there’s been an extensive covert network of highly trained operatives working full-time to take him down for almost as long as that.”

“That’s the group you belong to.” Len was speaking with no trace of his customary drawl.

“Yes.”

“And last night?”

Rowan sighed. 

“The main problem we’ve always had is getting enough concrete evidence to link all the various criminal activities of the larger network with the centralised operations of our target. Last night was about following up on an urgent lead to access some key transaction records that could help us anticipate some of their next moves. Ultimately we’re looking for ways we can gather hard evidence that can hold up in court and implicate both Bancroft, among many others, and the perp we’re really after.”

Len looked attentive, yet impassive.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Possibly. What I saw looked promising. We won’t be sure until everything’s been fully analysed and followed up on.”

“Hmmm…I see.” Len pushed his lips out and appeared contemplative.

Rowan wondered what he was thinking and felt like she was holding her breath pending his full response.

“So, you mentioned last night things have been tough lately, and that was at least partially why you were playing things so dangerously. What’s that about?”

Rowan tilted her head and looked down. ‘Might as well go all the way at this point,’ she thought.

“While you were away…” Rowan paused and exhaled, trying to figure out how best to begin. “As of a few months ago, it became clear we have a mole on our team. Almost got one of us killed. Linney, she’s…my friend and, well, if it hadn’t been for one of our best operatives getting a bad feeling and tailing her on a mission unannounced Linney’d be dead now…or possibly worse. As it played out Linney’s cover just got blown so she’s out of commission but…the whole thing has forced our hand. If we can’t take this bastard down soon we’ll probably have to disband and try to reconfigure in some new incarnation somewhere down the line but…I’m not sure that would even happen. Word is the powers that be are considering pulling back, cutting their losses and just…giving up.”

Rowan couldn’t hide how discouraged and angry the thought made her. She decided not to bother trying.

Len had leaned back in his chair again and now held his fingers together in a tent shape, halfway between his chest and his chin, appearing even more intensely contemplative than before. Rowan met his eyes but could not decipher his thoughts, as his expression was stony.

He didn’t speak for a few moments. When he finally did, his drawl was back but he still looked less guarded than usual. 

“So, what’s the overall strategy of this group of yours? And how many of you are there?”

Rowan thought to herself, ‘In for a penny, in for a pound...’ 

“In total across the country…about 80 field operatives, not all full-time though. We all have our own on-call medical back up so that makes about 160 full, part-time and on-call staff total in the field with about 10 or so senior agents coordinating everything from secret locations. I don’t even know where they base themselves. We’re also linked to agents in Canada and Mexico and beyond but only loosely. We share information but otherwise operate independently. As for strategy,” Rowan sighed heavily, “the secrecy and isolation we work under doesn’t allow for much sophistication, at least in the field. We’re all working away in our own areas and on our own assignments to gather whatever local intel we can based on leads the senior agents gather and feed us, in the hopes that if we can put enough pieces together, we can finally nail our target.”

Rowan took a breath and noticed Len was looking as focused and intense as she’d ever seen him. When he realised she’d stopped speaking and didn’t have anything else to say for the moment he instantly appeared incredulous.

“Wait a minute. That’s it? That’s the _whole_ plan?” Len leaned forward again, dropping his hands to his sides.

Rowan’s lips formed a small frown.

“That’s a terrible strategy! If you can even call it a strategy.” Len pursed his lips and looked irritated.

“No wonder this secret operation of yours isn’t getting anywhere.” Len huffed. “You sure this whole thing isn’t being purposely orchestrated to fail? What the hell Ro? I get that you’re a highly skilled agent and all but I would _never_ send any of my crew into a viper pit like you went into _alone_ last night with absolutely no back up! What if I hadn’t been there and you’d been been caught where you shouldn’t have been? You might’ve made it out but then what shape would your cover be in? How safe would you be after that? Damn Ro! How safe are you now? How do you know for sure you weren’t made? What about your vulnerabilities? Snuggles, for example.”

Len opened his mouth as if to continue his impassioned tirade but then closed it again and let out a breath. He suddenly noticed the look on Rowan’s face and seemed to calm down. She looked irritated and tired…and profoundly sad.

Len crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back once again in his chair, regarding her carefully.

Rowan sat staring at him, a jumble of emotions inside her, each one warring to be aired first. This conversation was draining her. She felt acutely tired, causing her to hesitate, allowing Len to speak again.

“Look Rowan, I get you’ve probably given me the highly abridged version but…something just feels off to me about this whole thing. I’ve done plenty of solo heists in my day but anything involving more than a couple of potential hostiles I put together a crew and I make a plan down to the last second. Eighty odd field agents to cover the _entire_ country and a handful of…let’s call them management,” Len made a sour face, “up against a sophisticated criminal trafficking operation protected by the establishment? Surely you see where I’m going with this?”

Rowan leaned back on the couch and sighed softly. She’d never seen this side of Len and, in a way, she loved it. At the same time, his apparent naivety shocked her.

Her voice was low when she spoke.

“Len, you’re right. Of course.” She paused as he arched an eyebrow and shot her a surprised expression.

“We’re dramatically under-resourced. Welcome to the wonderful world of trying to fight the worst of organised crime when most people would rather pretend none of this stuff even goes on. It’s too upsetting for most people to think about. Hell, I try not to think about it too much. But, we’re also trying to keep things small and under the radar because anything bigger would be too easy to detect and the more people involved the more likely there will be weak links in the chain. People can be bought or…planted; hence our mole.”

Len sat motionless for a few seconds, his face unreadable. Rowan regarded him, waiting for what exactly, she wasn’t sure. Maybe telling him anything had been a mistake after all.

Finally he seemed to relax slightly as he let out a soft breath. He jerked his head away to look out the floor to ceiling windows on the east-facing wall of the room and let his gaze rest there, as if he was searching for something. When he turned his face back to Rowan, his gaze was intense.

“I’ll help you.”

Rowan tilted her head in surprise, not sure she’d heard him right. She felt her face settle into a quizzical expression.

“You’ll…help me?”

“Yes.” Len’s voice was low and his face was now etched with a very determined expression, appearing as if he’d just come to a concrete and immovable decision.

Rowan’s eyebrows rose and she continued to stare at him, not quite knowing what he meant. Len seemed to pick up on her hesitation. Leaning forward in his chair, he let out a long, low breath.

“You need someone to watch your back, especially if you can’t even trust everyone on your own team right now. And it sounds like you could use an outside perspective to provide some objective feedback on your group’s…strategic planning, or lack thereof. I think you’ll find me to be an exceptional ally on both those counts.”

All of a sudden, Rowan wasn’t entirely sure what to think. In a way, she recognised she’d told Len all she had because she’d been feeling increasingly on edge, vulnerable, desperate even, lately and it felt to her like something had to give with her situation, likely sooner rather than later. Still, she hadn’t expected him to respond so quickly and so definitively with an offer of assistance. She hadn’t expected such an offer at all.

Now that it was on the table though, Rowan had to admit she was immediately tempted to take him up on it. But a small part of her was terrified of the consequences of trusting him. It was one thing to put her own safety on the line. It was entirely something else to risk the safety of her colleagues and the integrity of their mission. 

They’d all shed a hell of a lot of blood, sweat and tears trying to reel in one of the vilest criminals Rowan had ever known of. If Len wasn’t 100% sincere, she could once again be responsible for bringing down her whole team and ruining any chance of succeeding, perhaps their last chance at succeeding. It was a starkly sobering thought.

On the other hand, her impressions of Leonard Snart had come a long way since that fateful day after Ferris Air when she’d first confronted him and set this whole series of unlikely events in motion. Len had shown himself to be more than just a cold hearted, self-serving criminal…hadn’t he?

Rowan’s difficulty trusting people in general didn’t help her to fully trust Len in particular but…damn it, she’d just slept with the man for crying out loud and had felt safer with him than she’d ever felt with anyone before. What was trust anyway if it didn’t involve a leap of faith at some point?

She had trusted her colleagues and yet at least one of them had betrayed the team. Somehow, in spite of whatever malfeasances in his past, she didn’t think Len had ever been the kind of person to condone trafficking in people, let alone the sexual enslavement of children and young people, or anyone else for that matter.

She pondered all this in a matter of seconds, meeting Len’s gaze directly. His eyes maintained a look of uncharacteristic seriousness, no hint of his customary smirk or insouciance anywhere in his features.

Rowan took a deep breath. “I appreciate the offer…and maybe I could use someone to be a sounding board lately. And the offer of back up is very tempting as well.” She paused, looking meaningfully at Len.

“I’m just not sure this is such a good idea though. If we’re not successful in the end there could be consequences long-term for you and those you care about if you get involved. This sleaze ball hasn’t gotten where he is without having a lot of powerful friends. There are serious risks to anyone who works to take these kinds of people down. I mean, as much as you might dislike Team Flash and the CCPD getting in the way of your heists, at least they’re not viciously ruthless killers who take ample pleasure in brutalising anyone who messes with their business. Are you really sure you want to get mixed up in all this? I won’t necessarily be able to protect you or those you care about…no matter how hard I try.”

Len’s gaze was steady. His eyes flicked downward and he looked contemplative for a moment. Then his eyes flicked up again. 

“You make a compelling argument…but that’s not a no.” The corners of his mouth turned upward and a glint lit up his eyes. “I’m a big boy Rowan. Whatever happens I’ll handle it. We’ll obviously have to put some safeguards in place and go about this very carefully. I can assure you though, I’m nothing if not a study in discretion…well, when I want to be.” Len smirked warmly for the first time during their conversation.

Rowan eyed him warily as if she wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into. Well, she really _wasn’t_ sure what she was getting herself into but, for the first time in months…even longer…she felt a surge of hope that all might not be doom and gloom in her professional life, such as it was. 

Len might be just the wild card her team needed to actually win their long-standing battle. She suspected he would have to remain a very secret wild card, stuffed high up her sleeve, at least for now. But if he really was serious and in for the long haul, maybe…just maybe…

He rose from his chair and came to stand about a foot in front of her, letting his eyes fall to meet hers without lowering his head. He held out his hand and smirked, but in a gentle, sincere way that only he could pull off. 

She rose to stand before him, her eyes levelling out as her face came closer to his. She tilted her head, considering his hand for a moment. 

“You’re sure about this?”

“Positive.”

It did make a kind of sense, using the skills and insights of a criminal to catch an even bigger, much worse criminal, Rowan reflected. They would need to be extremely careful but they were both highly disciplined individuals with a penchant for caution. She felt strangely confident and almost light hearted as she took his hand and they shook on it.

“I have a pretty good idea of the kind of odds we’re up against but…I have a feeling we’re going to make a hell of a great team.” Len’s smirk widened and his eyes remained warm.

“Well, as of a few short minutes ago, Len, I’m pretty much counting on it.” Rowan smiled up at him before letting her head drop down as she leaned forward and rested her forehead on his chest. Len brought his hands up to rub her biceps and then squeezed them gently before extending his arms around her back and planting a kiss on her temple that somehow seemed both chaste and highly sensual at the same time.

“Don’t worry Ro. This time around, you can count on me.”


	5. Mick's Muffins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len and Rowan spend some more time getting to know one another...but of course their peace and quiet was destined not to last.

Rowan breathed in deeply, enjoying the sweet scent of decaying grass that was one of her favourite things about spending time in the country. She was glad Len had suggested going for a walk around his property after the rather intense discussion they’d just had.

They agreed to take a break from any further talk of their impending team up so they could relax and enjoy the weekend together. Then they could start strategising in earnest later in the week when they met up again back in Central.

Len seemed to savour showing Rowan around his home base which, in addition to the house, included ten acres of surrounding land which he pretty much left to the trees and local plants to grow as they wanted, with the exception of a few areas that were kept clear for walking paths, berry bush picking and some patio areas.

Even though maintaining such a secluded hideaway did make sense considering his profession, Rowan would never have guessed that Len would be so at home in the country. 

When she said as much, he revealed to her that when he and Lisa were younger and their grandfather was still alive, he’d occasionally taken them for drives outside the city in his ice cream truck to give them a break from the dreary lives they endured with their father.

Len explained that several years back, when he had an opportunity to, he’d purchased this property because it was the one his grandfather had always admired most as they drove by on the old concession road. 

At first Lisa had planned to live there too, but then she’d suddenly gotten a travel bug and out of nowhere decided to ride her motorcycle across the country, ‘searching for herself’ she’d said. She ended up being away from Central for two years, and when she got back, she still didn’t feel like settling down, so Len continued to live in the big, old house mostly on his own, save for Lisa and Mick’s occasional visits.

“He was good to you, your grandfather?” Rowan was heartened to learn that Len had had at least one decent grown up looking out for him in his early life.

“Yeah, he was great.” Len’s voice was soft and he looked almost lost in memory. He held back a branch for Rowan as they walked along a tree-lined dirt path with a canopy of leaves all around them. 

“He wasn’t in the greatest health though by the time Lisa and I came along…and he never really recovered after my mom disappeared suddenly. He did all he could for us but he wouldn’t have been able to care for us full-time, even if he could have convinced anyone to let him take custody.” 

Len sighed with a touch of sadness evident in his features. “I’ve never really understood why Lewis even kept us, seeing as he hated us so much. I guess he liked having someone small around to take his frustrations out on…and later to ensnare into his half-baked schemes.”

Len had never shared so much about his early life and Rowan was struck by how open he was being compared to most of their previous exchanges. She sensed she was finally having a conversation with an unfiltered Leonard Snart, free of any of the trappings of Captain Cold. 

She found herself feeling totally relaxed and comfortable with him in a way she never had before. Still, something he’d said jumped out at her.

“You said your mother disappeared suddenly?”

“Yeah…when I was 8 and Lisa was just a baby. Lewis always insisted that she’d just up and left us in the middle of the night but my grandfather never believed it. For a long time I wasn’t sure what to think.” Len paused, clearly agitated as he reflected on dark thoughts.

Rowan didn’t want to be pushy but perceived Len might actually want to share more but was having trouble deciding what else to say. So she asked gently, “And now?”

“To be honest, I think he killed her.” 

Len jerked his head away but Rowan caught the vulnerability and emotion in his eyes along with an uncharacteristic sheen of moisture there before he reaffixed a more neutral expression to his face.

She felt her own eyes well up as the enormity of what he’d just said started to sink in. She looked down at the ground, then glanced sideways at him as he stared straight ahead. 

“I’m sorry Len. That’s…so horrible.” Rowan hoped her words wouldn’t be too inadequate.

“Yeah…it is.” 

They were both silent for a while as they continued making their way along the dirt path. As they walked, Rowan contemplated her next words. Len seemed calm in spite of what he’d just shared so she decided to be brave and go with her impulse.

“Have you ever tried to look into what happened to your mother…I mean, as an adult?”

Len sighed and Rowan sensed so much conflicted emotion within that one soft exhalation.

“I have. But I’ve never gotten very far. The CCPD buries their own bodies pretty damn well for a supposedly non-criminal organisation and…frankly I go back and forth between being hell-bent determined to find out and never wanting to know.” 

Len’s face darkened with one of the hardest expressions Rowan had ever seen on him. Then, as soon as it had come, it was gone and his features softened into a sort of resigned frown. He turned to look her in the eyes and tilted his head to the side. 

“Not quite the conversation I’d planned for this walk. Sorry.”

Rowan tilted her own head and held Len’s gaze. “It’s fine. I mean, even though it’s a terrible topic I’d rather know than not know.” 

What she really wanted to say was that she liked learning more about Len and his life but she was afraid saying that outright would highlight all too obviously that she still hadn’t shared much that was personal about herself. 

Rowan suddenly had an idea and decided once again to just go for it and put her thoughts on the table without too much rumination.

“Len, if you want me to I could dig around in the CCPD archives to see if I can come up with anything.” She paused as Len snapped his head to face her. “I can be very discreet when I want to be…I’d be careful.”

Rowan looked up at Len and tried to interpret his reaction. His eyes had widened and he looked genuinely surprised, like he’d never expected her to offer such a thing. There was a pregnant pause that hung in the air between them and Rowan feared for a moment she may have overstepped.

But then Len blinked and said softly, “You’d do that?”

“Sure. I mean it’s no different really than what I’ve done any other time I’ve looked into cold cases for various other reasons. Sometimes I’m checking for protocol violations or reviewing past investigative techniques that have been modernised since the case in question. It’s not the main focus of my job but still, it’s routine enough that it won’t raise any suspicions. I’ll let you know if I find anything and then you can decide if you want me to share it with you or not. We can take it step by step.”

Len stopped walking and turned to gaze out across the field they were passing. It seemed as if he needed a moment to collect himself. When he turned back to Rowan he was a bit misty eyed but he also had a very subtle upturn to his lips. 

His eyes flicked down and he gently took one of Rowan’s hands in his. His eyes flicked up again to meet hers and they held almost as much emotion as they had the night he’d been shot, just before he’d asked her to tell his sister he was sorry when he thought he was dying. 

“Thank you,” was all he said in a soft voice, but it conveyed so much more than those two words usually meant. 

Rowan made an internal promise to herself to get to the bottom of what had happened to Len’s mother if it was the last thing she ever did.

She ran her thumb over Len’s knuckles and then went up on her tiptoes to kiss him softly on the lips. 

“You’re welcome.” 

Len smiled. It was a soft, genuine smile and his eyes held a hint of disbelief in them, but also a warm touch of actual happiness. It was a new look on him but a good one that Rowan hoped she’d see more of in the future.

They continued their walk and spent the rest of the afternoon outside, much of it relaxing on a patio near the house with homemade iced tea and some moderately healthy but still rather addictive crunchy snacks.

As evening was approaching, Len had formulated a plan to surprise Rowan with yet another wonder of his rather amazing home. He told her to relax anywhere other than the kitchen while he ‘whipped up dinner’, as he put it.

Rowan decided to take advantage of the downtime and grab a nap while Len cooked. Being outside most of the day had really taken it out of her. She’d offered to help Len in the kitchen but he’d insisted he had it all handled so she retreated to his bedroom and fell fast asleep almost immediately.

Rowan had been consistently sleep deprived for the past few months as her work life had become more and more stressful so her body welcomed the chance to relax in a place she felt safe, with no nagging responsibilities to attend to at the moment and not even a lovable but restless kitty to wake her up either!

Little did Rowan know that Len’s plan included going all out not only on an impressive array of savoury dishes but also a pretty elaborate dessert that only someone with Len’s penchant for efficiency could possibly pull off within the time frame available.

He knew Rowan loved chocolate, and they’d established earlier that day that they both also loved caramel, so he went for it and made a glazed chocolate caramel roll that was plenty big for both of them but didn’t take quite as long as a full cake would have.

By the time Len came in to wake her twilight was falling and it wouldn’t be too long before it was fully dark outside. He sat at the edge of the bed as she roused to consciousness with a gentle but firm smirk on his face, reminding her that she was still in the realm of the enigmatic Captain Cold and, really, who knew what mischief he had up his sleeves?

Len led a drowsy, still awakening, Rowan out through the living room and then through a sliding door to the back patio and down along one of the paths around the house and through some trees. He slowed and Rowan could just make out the outlines of his face as he turned to her and drawled lightly, “I hope you like this.”

They rounded a turn in the path and walked up a short flight of wooden stairs. Rowan gasped at the sight that suddenly met them.

They were standing on a large deck that was strung all around with small, multi-coloured paper lanterns. On closer inspection, Rowan saw there were also multi-coloured solar powered lights in the shape of dragonflies interwoven with the lanterns.

There was a large table in the middle of the deck with chairs all around it. A few reclining lounge chairs were set up toward the end of the deck, beyond the table. 

Settings for two people were placed at one end of the table where a number of covered dishes and casseroles were arrayed around them. Rowan noticed the casseroles were set on hot plates and there was a cooler to one side of the table, presumably with beverages inside.

“Wow! You really don’t do anything in half measures do you?”

Len’s warm but self-satisfied smirk grew. “What can I say Ro? I like to make sure I’m _very_ good at _everything_ I do.” Len let his voice lower to a husky drawl as he said the last part of the sentence, sending shivers up Rowan’s back. The man sure could sound like sex incarnate when he wanted to.

Still, Rowan couldn’t help wondering if he was fully aware of how his ultra-sexy voice affected people, or her in particular. Suddenly she wasn’t sure how hungry she was for food vs.…other things.

Len took Rowan’s hand and led her over to the table, then pulled out a chair for her. She smiled to herself at his gentlemanly behavior, wondering if any of her friends on Team Flash would believe her if she told them about it.

The aromas from the table started to hit her full force as Len uncovered the steaming dishes and Rowan immediately found herself very hungry for food again, famished in fact, her appetite whetted by the delicious smells mixing and mingling before her.

Len described everything he’d cooked with a tentative pride that was downright endearing. He’d made a light, lemon flavoured linguine sprinkled with fresh parsley, a casserole made up of a medley of delicious baked root vegetables, and a generous batch of honey glazed grilled tofu. There was also a mixed green salad with mandarin oranges and pecans in it.

After much delighted eyebrow raising and oohing and ahhing by Rowan at the tantalizing spread, they settled in and began eating, Len retrieving some non-alcoholic sparkling lemon-lime for Rowan and a local craft beer for himself from the cooler. 

It was at once a light meal, yet also a very filling and satisfying one…and totally delicious.

Rowan savoured every morsel. It had been a long time since anyone had made a homemade dinner for her, let alone one as good as this. Len seemed extremely attuned to just how much Rowan was enjoying the meal, continuing to give off a charming air of concern that she find each and every element to her liking.

If Rowan had thought she might be falling for Len before, she began to feel certain that she was now. 

“How did you manage to get all this ready so quickly?” Rowan had to admit she was really impressed with Len’s kitchen prowess. She was also pretty surprised he’d had the tofu on hand and was actually eating it alongside her instead of having made some kind of animal based protein for himself.

“Truth be told I had all the veggies chopped already so I really just had to season them and throw them in the oven. The tofu doesn’t take long to glaze either so it’s a pretty simple meal prep-wise. I grilled it on the oven racks while the casserole was baking.” 

When Rowan asked how it was he’d had the bean curd on hand in the first place he leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “Don’t let this get around…she doesn’t like people thinking she’s a softy…but Lisa’s vegan. Has been for years. I always have vegan food on hand just in case she comes 'round. Have to admit I’ve developed a taste for some of it over the years myself.”

Rowan found herself both surprised and not surprised by that revelation. It certainly explained how it was that Len was so adept at throwing together delicious vegetarian meals at the drop of a hat. He’d clearly been doing it for a long time.

Just when Rowan thought Len had run out of culinary delights to impress her with, he brought forth the chocolate caramel roll he’d whipped up while she was sleeping. Her eyes widened and she stared at him in somewhat sceptical disbelief.

“Okay, you did not just make that yourself since we talked about how great chocolate and caramel go together this afternoon.” Rowan angled her head down and peered up at Len through her lashes like he couldn’t possibly be serious.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Come now Ro, I would think you’d know by now you should never underestimate me. You did have a good solid nap there before dinner. What else was I supposed to do while you were out?”

“You’re kidding me right?” Rowan’s brow furrowed as she genuinely wondered if he was joking or not.

Len sighed dramatically. “Well, as much as I enjoy the thought of you imagining I’m an even more talented wizard in the kitchen than I am, this is actually one of the simpler desserts I know how to make.”

“It looks totally amazing!”

Len’s lips quirked up in a half smirk, half smile, as he set out the dessert plates. He then cut them both a generous slice, giving Rowan an end piece with extra chocolate glaze on one side.

He poured them both some water from a pitcher to help balance out the sugar concentration from the roll. Rowan waited for Len to sit down again, then smiled excitedly at him.

“Go ahead…dig in!” Len’s smirk was warm and his eyes twinkled at her excitement.

Rowan didn’t need to be invited twice and quickly carved a modest piece off her slice with her fork and placed it in her mouth. As she slowly chewed she couldn’t help closing her eyes at the delectable mix of dark chocolate cake and light caramel cream, accented with a thin layer of dark chocolate glaze and generous lines of caramel syrup. It was both decadent and heavenly.

“Len…” she breathed when she had fully swallowed the first incredible bite and managed to form words. “This really is _amazing_! It’s…perfect. It’s _so good_!” Rowan thought she must sound ridiculous at the moment but didn’t really care. She felt like a child on her birthday being surprised with the best, most delicious cake ever!

Len’s eyes gleamed and he looked thoroughly satisfied with himself, but Rowan knew him well enough by now to see through the smirk, noting the hint of genuine happiness and pride in his eyes, which was not usually there no matter how much he was smirking. It wasn’t so much a Captain Cold expression of triumph as a Leonard Snart smile of extreme satisfaction.

Rowan took another bite and Len took one himself. He looked thoughtful as he chewed… considering.

“Hmmm. Not bad, if I do say so myself.”

“Seriously Len, if you ever get tired of running heists and playing heroes and villains with the Flash you could so go into business! This cake is just so rich and moist but also…hmmmm, so light. It’s just…did I mention I really love this?” Rowan took another rather large bite, enthusiastic pleasure writ large all over her face.

Len looked both pleased and amused. “Had I known you were _this_ easy to please Ro, I’d have made you one of these sooner.”

They enjoyed the luscious dessert to its fullest, while also continuing to indulge in some increasingly silly banter with Len constantly agreeing with everything Rowan said about how incredible a cook and baker he was.

Eventually, when they were done, Len covered up the remainder of the cake and arranged it in the cooler along with the other leftovers for when they were ready to take it all back to the house.

Len suggested they relax on the reclining lawn chairs for a while and Rowan happily agreed. There was one that was wider than the others and they managed to lie back comfortably on it, though they had to snuggle close in order to both fit.

The fresh air of the clear, quiet night, along with the lanterns and dragonfly lights added to the serene atmosphere and the sense that, for this one evening, Len and Rowan might as well be the only two people in the world.

Len sighed softly as they lay looking up at the still emerging stars, which were so much easier to see in the clear, dark sky so far outside the city.

“I’m glad you liked dinner Ro. I haven’t cooked such a big meal for someone at home in a long time. Good to know I haven’t lost my touch.”

“It really was delicious Len. Thank you.”

“No problem. You are my guest after all.” ‘A very special guest,’ Len thought to himself contentedly.

He proceeded to tell her more about his time in Aruba and how he, Lisa and Mick had spent their days there. Rowan expressed some surprise that all three of them were so adept in the kitchen but Len explained that, with childhoods as deprived as all three of theirs had been, they’d had to learn early how to fend, and cook, for themselves.

That fact, along with a very deep appreciation of the finer things in life once they were finally able to have them, led to them all being very self-sufficient and skilled in the kitchen.

Rowan snuggled in closer to Len as she gazed up at the stars. A part of her wished they could stay like this forever. She sighed contentedly, musing at how warm his body was, the moniker ‘Cold’ seeming less and less fitting the more time she spent with him.

“So, have you been hanging out here alone since you got back from Aruba?”

“For the most part. Lisa and Mick both stayed over for the first few days after we got back but then they gravitated back to their favourite safe houses in the city. Me, I’m taking my time before diving fully back into all that. To be honest, I find myself missing the easy-going pace we got used to in Aruba. Wouldn’t mind going back one day…” 

Len paused looking down at Rowan. She turned her face more toward him and met his eyes.

“…with the right person.”

“Sounds like that would be nice.”

“I’m certain it would be.”

Len and Rowan lay in each other’s arms chatting amicably and gazing up at the stars for a good long time before finally deciding to head back to the house. Once there, they put all the food away and cleaned up the dishes together.

They got ready for bed with relatively few words but plenty of heated glances. When they both crawled between Len’s sheets their moods took a turn for the silly and their lovemaking that night was a good deal more raucous and laughter filled than the night before, though ultimately no less careful or caring. 

The sleep they fell into afterwards while still entangled in each other’s limbs was the deepest and best either had experienced in a long, long time…perhaps ever.

~

The next morning dawned with Len and Rowan still finding themselves in light and somewhat silly moods that played off one another. It took them some time to extricate themselves from Len’s spacious, warm, comfortable bed and even more time to manage to feed themselves some rather late (verging on lunch) brunch.

After they’d eaten and cleaned everything up, Len decided to make banana muffins while Rowan had a shower, on the condition that Rowan promise never to tell anyone that Captain Cold made banana muffins. 

Then Len had his own shower and they eventually reconvened in the kitchen. 

Len moved up behind Rowan and slid his arms around her, as he was becoming more and more comfortable doing. They were both feeling fresh and relaxed from the hot water of their respective showers.

“Did I mention yesterday how much I like these pants...specifically how tight they are?” 

Len’s voice was low and husky as one of his hands moved to Rowan’s thigh. His plan was to let both his hands wander all over her body for an indefinite period of time. 

A low chuckle sounding from a few feet away, however, caused both Rowan and Len to startle apart and turn to see Mick Rory sprawled out on the couch in the living room, stuffing the last piece of a still warm muffin into his mouth. 

“Mick!” Len practically barked. Mick waved from the couch while still chewing. 

“Why don’t you just come on in and make yourself at home?” Len laid on the Captain Cold drawl as thick and sarcastic as Rowan had ever heard it. 

Mick finished chewing and swallowed. “Thanks bud. Already did.” He’d either missed the sarcasm or was choosing to completely ignore it. 

He raised his eyebrows and gestured to Len and Rowan with his chin, his eyes animated. 

“I _knew_ you two were together.” 

Len let out a breath. “We just got together yesterday.” 

“Yeah, that just means of the three of us, I was the first to know. What can I say?” Mick stood and started walking toward them, spreading his arms out wide. “It’s a gift!” Mick was grinning broadly and somewhat smugly now. 

Len sighed and turned to Rowan. “I’m not sure you’ve ever met formally. Rowan, this is Mick. Mick, Rowan.” 

Mick stopped closer to Rowan than Len would have liked and stared gleefully down at her. 

“I looooved that wallet trick you pulled. Had this one here more flustered than I’ve ever seen him.” He jabbed his thumb toward Len. “That’s just what he needs you know. Someone to keep him on his toes, not let him be in control all the time.” 

Rowan smiled tentatively at Mick and glanced at Len. “Well, I’ll certainly keep trying.” 

She winked at Mick and, without hesitating, he clapped Len on the back. Len’s eyes narrowed and he suddenly looked like he might just be contemplating punching Mick in the face. 

Mick may have taken that as a challenge because he settled onto one of the bar stools at the kitchen island and casually said, as if asking about the weather, “So how’s the sex been so far? Good I hope ‘cause you know that’s one of the most important parts of a successful long-term relationship.” 

Mick chuckled and raised his eyebrows again, eyes gleaming like he’d just messed with Len in a way he’d wanted to for a long time. 

If Len had looked pissed before, he looked positively murderous now. Rowan glanced up at him and felt the cold intensity of his gaze…but before she even felt it coming she burst out laughing, then couldn’t stop. 

She observed Len’s face soften a smidgen, acquiring a touch of confusion mixed with the rage. 

“I’m sorry Len...I just...it’s just too funny.” 

“Ha,” Mick clapped Rowan on the back and she was jolted forward to the point that Len reached out quickly to steady her and make sure she didn’t fall over. “I like this one Len. Good sense of humour...that’s another thing that’s critical to make these kinds of relationships last.” 

Everything Mick said came out in a mock earnest tone as he studied the plate of muffins on the counter. He grabbed one and held it up like he was toasting them. 

“Just don’t mess this up buddy. You’re not gettin’ any younger and not everyone’s patient like Rowan and me here to put up with all your...quirks.” Mick’s eyes flicked meaningfully to Len’s as he said that last word. Then he started enthusiastically devouring the muffin. 

Rowan had managed to stop laughing but now shot Len an almost pleading look as she pursed her lips to prevent herself from lapsing into another giggle fit. Len regarded her and the extreme annoyance he’d projected moments ago evaporated. He offered Rowan a resigned look that did include a small upturn of his lips. 

He sighed again. “So Mick. To what do we owe this unexpected pleasure?” 

“Oh, I was just passin’ by, thought I’d drop in. Didn’t know you were...entertaining.” He grinned again. “Glad I didn’t walk in on you two fucking on the couch or somethin’. That would’ve been embarrassing.” 

“For us or for you?” Rowan quipped. 

“Heh, heh. Definitely for you, or at least this one here.” He jabbed his thumb at Len again. “I wouldn’t mind really.” 

“Okay, well as you can see I am...entertaining so as great as this visit has been let’s continue it another time, shall we?” Len was clearly irritated with his criminal partner’s all too deliberate ribbing and blatant sexual teasing. 

“Can’t wait to get her back in the sack, huh? Ahhh...young love! It’s glorious.” 

Mick rumbled enthusiastically, opening his arms wide again after grabbing a couple more muffins off the counter while starting to move toward the door. 

“I guess I should say new love though. At least half of you ain’t really young any more at all. Sorry buddy, it’s just the truth. Anyway, have fun kids. Be safe.” 

Mick was already on his way out the door when he turned back, having adopted a serious expression, which he directed at Rowan. 

“He tell you he’s a closet sub yet? Thought I’d best let you know in case he’s too shy to tell you himself. Loves to be tied up and all sorts of other...” 

“Mick! If you don’t leave now...!” 

“All right, all right, I’m leavin’.” Mick’s face broke into a wide grin again. “Nice meetin’ ya Rowan. I was just kiddin’ by the way. Just havin’ some fun.” 

He turned to leave, then turned back again. “Just about that last part. Everything else was serious.” 

“Mick!” 

“Right, bye!” 

Mick finally sauntered out with one last backhanded, muffin-accompanied wave. 

Len inhaled and exhaled very slowly, then leaned back against the counter peering at Rowan with an almost sheepish expression she _definitely_ had never seen on his face before. 

“Yes, so, my partner in crime and...best friend, Mick.” He gestured irritably with his hand toward the door. “If you want to leave now and never come back I’ll understand.” 

Rowan shook her head and laughed. “Is he always that...silly?” 

“Crude and obnoxious, you mean? No, not really. In fact I think that’s the most he’s said at one time since we got back from Aruba. Guess he couldn’t resist the chance to take me down a peg or two in front of you. He gets so few chances to do that normally he needs to pounce when he can.”

Len still sounded irritated but less so than a few moments before. “So...does the fact you’re not running away yet mean he hasn’t scared you off?” 

“I don’t scare easily Len. You should know that by now. Plus, I’m very interested in this closet sub thing.” Rowan giggled and Len rolled his eyes. “Just kidding. No, he didn’t freak me out or anything. I have to admit I didn’t expect him to be so...light-hearted? How long have you two known each other?” 

“Oh, Mick and I go way back. Met in juvie when I was 14 and he was 16. He saved my life when I got jumped my first night there.” 

“Right, I remember you mentioning something about that. Well, I’m not quite sure what we just experienced and this might sound funny but…I think I kinda like him.” 

Len raised his eyebrows. “You do?” His tone was one of disbelief. 

“Yeah. Somehow I don’t think he meant any harm by all that. He seems to think you’re more uptight than you actually are though.” 

Len tilted his head and seemed to consider that for a moment. “To be fair, I am more uptight with Mick than with you.” He was starting to relax and moved toward Rowan again, tracing his hand down one of her arms and smiling softly. “Now, I wonder why _that_ is.”

Rowan moved closer to Len and let her hands trace soft patterns down his chest. "I can think of a few possible reasons. One thing I can tell you for sure though.” 

“Hmmm. What’s that Ro?” 

“You’ll definitely never lose me to him.” Rowan looked up at Len with a mischievous gleam in her eyes and an impish smile playing on her lips. 

Len let out a sharp laugh and pulled Rowan into his arms. “Well that’s reassuring.” 

He nuzzled her neck, then whispered in her ear. “Just for the record Ro, I’m totally down with being either a sub or a dom whenever the occasion requires it.” 

Rowan laughed softly. “Good to know.”

Len kissed her lightly on the lips and breathed, “He _was_ right about one thing.” 

“What’s that?” 

“I really can’t wait to get you back in bed.” 

“We just got out of bed.” 

“I know, and that was clearly a mistake.” Len started kissing Rowan more ardently, then scooped her up in his arms and started carrying her toward his bedroom. 

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do when this weekend is over.” Rowan breathed between kisses as her arms encircled his shoulders. “I mean...how am I going to go back to my...ordinary routine?” 

“We should work out a schedule,” Len rasped between kisses, which got Rowan giggling again. 

“I’m serious Ro. It’ll totally help to have...this to look forward to...you know...when we’re not together doing...this.” 

“Hmmmm...that sounds like a…good plan.” 

“You’ll find I’m full of those.” 

Len had reached the bedroom and somehow managed to carefully toss Rowan on the bed in a movement that felt both passionate and gentle at the same time, climbing on top of her immediately. 

“And what are your plans for me right now?” Rowan peered up at Len, voice husky and eyes sparkling with anticipation. 

“Well, let’s see, what can we try?” Len paused and lay down beside her, slipping his hand under her shirt. “How about sex with our clothes on? Well...mostly on.” 

“Hmmm...not what I was expecting but...sure.” Rowan had to admit there was something really kinky about that idea and it turned her on. 

They were just starting to get really worked up, kisses hot, wet and expansive when they both heard the front door open and a distinctive female voice rise up from the hall entrance.

“Lenny! Are you home? I have your favourite beignets from Sparky’s Diner!”


	6. Lisa’s Beignets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than many of the others but i hope you enjoy it! Thank you to everyone who is reading this!!! (:

Len collapsed on the bed beside Rowan while breathing hard. He suddenly looked more like a deer caught in headlights than either frustrated or annoyed, which struck Rowan as kind of funny. 

“Damn it! Now Lisa’s here.” 

Rowan exhaled, feeling just as disappointed as Len now appeared. 

“Sorry Ro. I don’t think we can just pretend no one’s home because I told her I’d be out here this weekend. She’ll stick around until I make an appearance or else she’ll start trying to figure out where I am. And the first person she’ll call is Mick.”

Rowan smiled in understanding and reluctantly came down from the intense turn on she’d just been experiencing. 

“It’s fine Len. Should…should we let her know I’m here…or not?” 

Rowan suddenly felt self-conscious and a touch nervous to finally meet the infamous Lisa Snart, a woman she’d heard was a force to be reckoned with in her own right and who was also immensely important to Len.

Len paused and when he spoke again his voice was hushed. “If you don’t mind Rowan, I’d really like you to meet her. I would have preferred to have had more time to ourselves first but…Mick’s shit at keeping secrets from Lisa anyway. I’d rather she find out about us directly than filtered through Mick’s authorial licence.”

“Right…okay.” Rowan nodded and started to rise from the bed. Len held her back for a moment and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. 

“Rain check?” Len looked apologetic and a bit stressed out.

“Absolutely.” Rowan paused, then sighed. “At least we’re getting all the major introductions over with sooner rather than later.” Len raised his eyebrows and shot her a look that suggested he wasn’t completely sure if he concurred.

Both Len and Rowan were now standing and making sure their clothes were in a decent enough state to face Lisa. 

Len huffed. “I’ve neither seen nor heard from either Mick or Lisa for over a week and then they both have to show up in person right when we’re trying to have some downtime.”

“Or _up_ time as the case may be.” Len met Rowan’s mischievous eyes and they smirked simultaneously.

“Lenny?”

Lisa’s voice was louder now, sounding like she was in the kitchen or living room almost right outside the bedroom door.

“Ready Ro?” Len’s smirk evened out.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

With that, Len soundlessly opened the door and they both walked out into the larger living area. Lisa was humming in the kitchen with her back to them putting some fresh flowers into a vase but still didn’t miss the quiet opening of the door.

“So you _are_ here brother dear.” Lisa turned to face them and her buoyant expression shifted into one of quizzical surprise.

“Oh!” Lisa looked back and forth between Len and Rowan, clearly not missing their still slightly dishevelled appearance.

“Lisa. Don’t worry. This is…” Len didn’t have time to finish his sentence before Lisa interjected.

“Rowan! It is _you_ , isn’t it? I saw a picture at Star Labs and Cisco told me who you were.” Lisa’s face had swiftly morphed from hesitant surprise to excitement and then to delight.

“Oh…my…god! You two are _together_ aren’t you?” She now had her hands clasped in front of her fantastically grinning mouth as she bounced excitedly on her toes.

“Lenny, how did you _ever_ manage that, she’s adorable!” Lisa beamed as she strode closer to them, her sky-high heels sinking into the carpet. 

Rowan blushed as Lisa looked her up and down and smirked in a way eerily reminiscent of her brother.

“Make that gorgeous too…oh, I’d love to know how my jerk brother here convinced you to give him even a passing chance.” Rowan glanced at Len who was suddenly all out pouting while his brow furrowed in distinctly offended annoyance.

"Gee, thanks sis."

Lisa ignored Len's sarcastic utterance and quickly held up her hand. 

“Actually, no, don’t tell me any of the details. I’m not nosy like that.” Len snorted and Lisa shot him a displeased glare.

She extended her arm to Rowan and the two women shook hands. “I’m Lisa, Len’s sister and I’m _so_ very glad to finally meet you!”

“I’m glad to finally meet you too! Len’s told me so much about you.”

“All good I hope.” Lisa smirked again, eyeing her brother dubiously.

“Believe it or not, yes.” Rowan didn’t know quite what to make of Len and Lisa’s intermittent glaring at each other so she decided not to say more than that at the moment.

“And there I was afraid you’d be all lonely and mopey out here on your own but now I see I had no reason to fear so I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.”

“You don’t have to leave right away sis after coming all the way out here.”

“Oh, don’t worry Lenny, I have plenty to keep me occupied while you and Rowan enjoy each other’s company.” Lisa smiled spectacularly and winked at Rowan, still looking like an excited child who'd just gotten everything she’d ever wanted for her birthday, Christmas and Valentines Day. 

“Now Rowan, before I go I just want to say that if Lenny ever does something supremely stupid or, you know, extraordinarily jerky, please consider calling me before you totally dump his ass.” 

Lisa flicked a card out from somewhere inside her jacket and held it out to Rowan who took it bemusedly. 

“I may be able to interpret his various levels of dysfunctional behaviour and clumsy attempts at communication to possibly salvage this rather miraculous pairing you two have going here before it’s too late.” She turned to Len, patted his cheek with a sweet smile and mouthed, ‘You’re welcome’ to him.

Len’s eyes rolled skyward but his mouth turned up slightly, seemingly involuntarily.

Rowan was about to respond with a thank you when Lisa out of nowhere pulled her into a quick hug and then beamed at her again. “Oh, I can just tell we’re going to get along famously!”

Lisa’s enthusiasm was infectious and Rowan smiled back at her widely and genuinely. “I’d like that Lisa,” was all she managed to say though.

Lisa was already heading back to the kitchen, apparently getting ready to leave.

“The beignets are here on the counter Lenny. Don’t let them get stale, they’re practically right out of the oven. Sparky made them specially for you on account of our return.”

She turned as she picked up her bag, a dazzling smile still illuminating her face. 

“Have a great time and…well, just, thank you!” Lisa rushed back over and squeezed Rowan’s arm before making to leave once more.

She paused, however, and turned around, a very serious expression having suddenly taken over her face.

“Not to leave on a down note Rowan and, I’m sure this isn’t really going to be a problem but, just so we’re clear. If you turn out to be the jerky party in any future heartbreak or whatnot…you will have _me_ to deal with. You understand that right?”

Rowan noted the advent of steel in Lisa’s eyes where just moments ago there had been hints of moisture.

“Absolutely, I understand that. Of course.”

A smile returned to Lisa’s face, though a slightly more restrained one than had previously inhabited it.

“Excellent! I have a really good feeling about this! Lenny, I swear things have totally been looking up for us ever since you finally offed the ol’ dad-monster! It’s like suddenly anything is possible! All right, I really should go now but let me know how things are going. You two need anything, just let me know. I’m here for both of you, okay? Bye sweeties!”

Lisa was now clonking down the stairs in her heels and waving elegantly as she went. When the door had opened and closed and her footfalls outside had faded to inaudibility, Len let out a breath that sounded like he’d been holding it the entire time Lisa had been there.

Rowan resisted the urge to say what immediately came to mind, which was something along the lines of, ‘What the fuck was that?’

Instead she looked over to Len who had dropped his head forward and, with eyes closed, was massaging his temples with both hands, a concerning look of nausea on his face.

“Len, are you okay?” Rowan moved closer to him and tentatively touched his arm.

Len sighed. “Rowan, we really did have a very rough childhood, I swear. It…accounts for a lot.”

“I know. I…gather she’s just as protective of you as you are of her.”

Len lifted his head, opened his eyes and let his hands fall to his sides. 

“Seriously? From all of that…that’s your take away?”

Rowan couldn’t tell right away if Len was somehow offended by what she’d just said but he quickly made it clear that wasn’t the case. He pulled her into a tight hug and she hugged him back just as hard, both staying there for several seconds.

“Could we just go back into the bedroom, pick up where we left off and…discuss this later? Please?”

Len had never entreated her so sweetly before. Who was Rowan to deny him?

“I’d like nothing better,” she murmured into his chest.

“I like how we’re so often on the same wavelength.”

“Hmmmm…it does make things easy doesn’t it?

“Easy…yes…easy is good.” 

Len started nuzzling Rowan’s neck but she took the initiative this time, grabbing his hand and leading him back into the bedroom, where they were finally able to continue their more physical conversation uninterrupted.

~

Rowan lay on her couch with Snuggles curled up on her lap. Her fur baby had been so glad to see her when she’d returned Sunday evening, not having seen her human since the previous Friday morning. She purred and purred, for over an hour, and since then had been taking every opportunity to curl up on top of Rowan, possibly to ensure she wouldn’t go flitting off anywhere for too long again anytime soon.

Rowan tried to keep the number of nights and extended periods she spent away from Snuggles to a minimum, in spite of her rather demanding and unpredictable job. Snuggles was a social kitty and didn’t actually seem to enjoy spending time alone. If it were up to her lovable feline, Rowan would probably be around every minute of every day.

The soft, gentle music playing in the background and Snuggles’ intermittent sleepy kitty sounds were probably contributing to the reflective state Rowan found herself in. That and the fact that she was still pretty blown away that all of a sudden she was apparently seeing one of Central City’s most wanted super villains and somehow couldn’t be happier.

It was odd, knowing she was doing something that went against so many conventions she normally adhered to, such as not dating notorious criminals with a history of violence and murder. The odder part perhaps was that she wasn’t really worried anymore about Len’s past or how anyone else might view her relationship with him.

Rowan reflected on the gradual development of their relationship, from adversaries to playful fradversaries to friends of a sort…and then, apparently, to lovers who couldn’t get enough of each other. 

She had certainly missed his presence the whole time he’d been away, perhaps especially when her job had started to get increasingly stressful and she hadn’t been sure he would ever return to Central, or be in touch with her if he did. Now that they had taken the plunge and slept together, several times in fact, Rowan could admit to herself more easily that she’d always found him attractive; more so the better she got to know him.

Everything during the previous weekend had happened so quickly, and yet it simultaneously felt like it had unfolded in slow motion somehow. 

It had only been a couple of days but by Sunday Rowan almost felt like they’d been together for months…years even, as crazy as that sounded. Being with Len was just so easy. They clicked; and regardless of whatever differences they had or intense shit was going on with either of them they always seemed to be able to sync up to a similar wavelength whenever they were together. 

It was a big deal for Rowan to be so physically intimate with someone, especially so many times within such a short period. She had often felt ambivalent about sex in the past, even when she really liked someone who was also interested in her. 

With Len things were different though. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the intensity of her physical attraction to him or how emotionally and intellectually connected she felt to him at this point. She guessed it was some combination of all of those things.

It definitely helped that she felt she could talk to him about a lot of things she found difficult to discuss with most other people. Len never seemed phased by anything she said. When they’d been chatting on his patio that first afternoon they’d spent at his place on the Saturday, she’d decided to confide to him that she identified as greysexual. 

She wasn’t sure he’d know what that meant, as not everyone did, but he assured her he was completely familiar with the term. He didn’t seem very surprised either. Instead, he’d seemed pleased that he was, as he’d put it, ‘one of the lucky few to catch your eye.’ Rowan wasn’t about to dispute that.

In spite of all her initial angst about the whole thing, being with Len felt like finally finding home. Rowan smiled to herself at that thought and a warm feeling filled her.

Snuggles sighed and shifted position without even opening her eyes. Rowan reached down and stroked Snuggles’ coat, eliciting a short, soft trill-like sound.

Considering Rowan had gone and done something entirely unheard of in her circles by letting an outsider in on what they were up to, she reflected that she should probably feel way more stressed out and anxious than she did. But instead she couldn’t remember the last time she felt so relieved…or happy. 

Now that she was experiencing these feelings, it hit her more how tense, alone and almost paranoid she’d been feeling over the last few months. All of a sudden, as of the weekend, she had someone to talk to who was close by and whom she trusted. 

As unlikely as it sounded, Rowan realised she trusted Len more than anyone else at this point. She couldn’t really explain it even to herself, but there it was.

She’d never have been able to let go with him the way she had if she hadn’t trusted him so much. As soon as they’d explicitly decided to have sex and talked about how to navigate her boundaries she’d felt safe with him, and that feeling had solidified as he’d followed through and respected everything she’d expressed.

Rowan sensed that, in spite of his most serious crimes, Len had never been the type of person who sought to overpower others for his own gratification or anger release, or to feel better about himself. He really seemed to get the complexities of power dynamics and, in Rowan’s experience, that was a very rare find and thus something to appreciate and cherish.

On top of all that, whatever had been going on with him over the last half-year or so, Len was clearly in a very different place than he’d been when he first met the Flash, or when he’d engineered the Ferris Air incident. Rowan suspected there were multiple reasons for that but, as macabre as it might sound, killing his father had likely helped his mental health considerably.

Rowan wasn’t naïve or starry eyed enough to think that the way ahead would be safe, easy or free of setbacks, but she decided to let herself enjoy feeling awash in the warm, tingly sensations she currently experienced every time she thought of Len and where they were at right now. She might as well enjoy the exciting newness of it all while she could and take a much needed breath before things got crazy again, which surely wouldn’t take long.

She hoped Len was feeling as good about everything as she was. 

~

Len lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. Not for the first time since the weekend, he found himself acutely feeling the absence of any other presence in his home, and his bed. The quiet had never bothered him before but now it just felt…wrong. 

There was a certain nervousness buzzing at the back of his brain that was intensifying the more time passed since he’d dropped Rowan back at her place on Sunday evening. It was now the early hours of Wednesday morning and they’d planned to meet up at one of his safe houses in Central that evening. 

Which couldn’t come soon enough for Len because there was a small but irritatingly persistent voice at the back of his mind that told him that all that had happened on the weekend had just been some sort of freak random occurrence which would fall apart as soon as Rowan had some time to reflect on events and realise she’d made a huge error in judgement.

Another part of Len’s brain kept telling that pain in the ass voice to shut the fuck up already but it hadn’t quite worked yet. 

Len had been on a high the whole weekend with Rowan and for a good while after he’d dropped her off. However, sometime just after lunch on Tuesday his deepest insecurities and doubts started to creep in, incessantly telling him that a woman like Rowan would never fall for a messed up excuse of a man like him. He’d been struggling not to let that voice overwhelm him ever since.

He sighed and reached for his phone in an effort to distract himself. He’d refrained from texting Rowan for the most part since Sunday for fear of seeming too much like a lovesick teenager but before he even knew what he was doing he’d clicked on her name in his contacts and was staring at the small screen trying to figure out what to say.

After some thought he thumbed:

_Hey Ro…can’t sleep. Looking forward to seeing you tonight._

There. That didn’t sound too desperate. He sent the text and set his phone aside, not expecting an answer right away, it being 2:47 in the morning. 

He shifted onto his side feeling just as glum and even more stressed out than before he sent the text when, surprisingly, his phone buzzed.

He grabbed it and read the incoming message.

_Hey Len! I can’t sleep either. Can’t wait to see you tonight! Let’s just say the last couple of days have been veeeery long. (:_

Len felt like his heart actually skipped a beat, the weight of his doubts evaporating almost instantaneously as he realised the intense fears that had been building inside him were totally of his own creation.

Buoyed by a restored sense of hope, Len thought for a few moments, then responded:

_Poor baby. I’ll be ready to relieve whatever ails you by tonight, trust me._

Len waited and a few seconds later he got his response.

_Wow! Now I really can’t wait. If only we had a time machine. (:_

Len chuckled and texted back:

_You could always skip work today and come over right now._

After a moment he got the reply he expected.

 _If only…but I have to go in. Busy day ahead but at least that should make the time pass quickly._

Len pursed his lips but was still smiling as his body continued to relax, now that he wasn’t all tied up in knots worrying Rowan was going to run away from him before things even really got going between them.

_Sigh. If you must be all responsible I suppose I can be patient._

_Thanks for understanding. Should I bring anything tonight?_

Len thought for a moment.

_Just yourself. I’ll take care of everything else._

There was a somewhat longer pause than usual. Then:

_Are you sure you don’t want to come to my place? You fed me all weekend. Now you’re doing it again. I feel spoiled._

Len’s thumbs flew over his phone keypad.

_Get used to it Ro. I plan to spoil you indefinitely._

~

Rowan turned off her bedside lamp and nestled into her sheets, Snuggles curled up at her feet. ‘ _I plan to spoil you indefinitely_ ’…the words echoed through her mind and the warmth she’d been feeling since the weekend expanded throughout her whole body. Rowan found herself grinning up at the ceiling.

She’d been head over heels in love a couple of times before in her life but not in a very long time. She felt like a giddy teenager whose crush had finally asked her out. Was she going crazy she wondered? Was she losing all perspective and endangering her mission by allowing this delectable distraction into her life?

No, no, this was a good thing and no amount of paranoia or over thinking things was going to ruin this rare intrusion of happiness and pleasure into her life.

Len was going to help her work through the impasse she was facing in her job and take care of many of her other needs and desires while doing it. It didn’t seem as if his enthusiasm had faded at all since the weekend, which was a concern Rowan hadn’t been able to completely stop herself from worrying about.

That concern now soothed, Rowan rolled onto her side and closed her eyes, thinking ahead to what the night would hold. All she had to do was get through the day’s work and she’d finally be able to spend some more time with him. 

Damn! She hadn’t wanted anyone like this in forever. Maybe ever. With some very vivid thoughts of a certain ultra sexy thief in mind, she slowly drifted off to dreamland.


	7. Barry’s Timing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Len and Rowan figure out where they're at a bit more...someone else figures a few things out as well.

In addition to his actual home outside the city where they’d shared their first weekend together, Rowan would eventually come to be familiar, to differing degrees, with all seven of Len’s safe houses throughout Central City. 

Most were fairly modest and utilitarian, some more spacious than others, with a couple being a bit on the run down side. One of them was more of a glorified garage than a ‘house’ of any kind.

The safe house he invited her to their first weeknight together, however, was by far his fanciest place in the city. Rowan would come to realise later, with some fondness, that Len had wanted to impress her that first night in town together.

And impress her he did. She started to get an inkling of what kind of digs she’d been invited to when she approached the building address he’d given her and it turned out to be one of the swankiest condo buildings in the city, complete with doorman and a concierge in the rather well appointed lobby.

As she stepped into the elevator, she pushed the button for the floor Len had told her he was on, only to realise it was the penthouse. Rowan couldn’t prevent her eyebrows from rising in surprise. 

She’d already gleaned from Len’s house outside Central that the thieving life had been very kind to him financially but she was starting to feel as if Len was in a whole different class of criminal than she’d previously thought.

The idea did make her a bit uncomfortable. Even though Rowan had largely set aside any judgements or misgivings she might have regarding Len’s past and, to some extent, present criminal activities, she’d never been particularly comfortable around excessive wealth, having come from a pretty modest background.

She’d come to understand over the last year or so that Len had a very strict code as to whom he stole things from at this point. He didn’t steal from small business owners or ordinary citizens; only from large institutions often involved in questionable dealings, wealthy business people with shady characters and, occasionally, from other criminals. 

It helped Rowan reconcile herself to falling for Len that he at least didn’t go around robbing just anyone, especially those who were already struggling and couldn’t afford it.

And, obviously, if she found out Len had killed or recklessly harmed anyone since their original deal, that would be an enormous problem between them, but otherwise she had made a decision not to dwell too much on any of his strictly theft-related activities.

Still, she had to admit to some mixed feelings about how wealthy Len seemed to be such that he could afford to maintain so many properties that he didn’t even use or need all the time, some of them quite extraordinary. 

When Len opened the door and led her into his penthouse suite the first word that came to her mind was, indeed, ‘extraordinary’. She walked into an enormous open concept space with floor to ceiling windows around much of the perimeter. The suite seemed to take up the whole top floor of the building and had very high ceilings. 

The views of the city through the windows all around the room were stunning, the slowly setting sun painting the sky so many different hues Rowan had to turn all the way around a few times to take them all in.

Len smiled at her, almost shyly it seemed, and led her further into the romantically lit room, which included a number of couches and love seats arranged around a very impressive looking fireplace, a large modern kitchen and a beautiful dining room area with a table currently set with candles, potted roses and very classy looking tableware. 

A black grand piano sat in one corner on a raised platform and a whirlpool, of all things, was tucked away in an adjacent corner of the room. 

The whole place reminded Rowan of pictures she’d seen of honeymoon suites in very expensive, high-class hotels. She’d never been anywhere like this before and the surprise and awe she felt must have shown on her face because Len caught her eye and the corners of his lips flattened slightly.

“Too much, Ro?” Len appeared a touch concerned. “I wanted our first night together in the city to be special but if you’re not comfortable here we can go somewhere else.”

“No, no…it’s fine Len. I just…I didn’t expect…all this.” Rowan glanced around the room again. “It’s beautiful…it must cost a fortune though. I mean I knew you were a…highly successful world class thief but…I guess I never really thought about what that meant from a financial point of view.”

Len’s eyes flicked down, like he was reflecting on her words. Then he inclined his head to one side and flicked his eyes up to meet Rowan’s again.

“Well…the thieving is what got Lisa, Mick and me out of the whole hand-to-mouth, living in shit holes existence but, at this point, I pay all my mortgages using income from my rather extensive investments. Far more stable than relying on intermittent heists…and it allows me to really enjoy those with no pressure.” 

Len shot Rowan a somewhat lopsided smirk and she wondered at the state of the conversations she was having lately. Getting close to Len sure was widening her breadth of experience and opening her mind to some new insights into the many nuances of the criminal world.

Then again, she suspected Len was one of a kind and she probably shouldn’t draw any generalisations from her experiences with him.

She shook her head and smiled at Len, deciding to just go with the flow and see how the night unfolded. She had to admit to being a little nervous now that she was here, wondering if Len’s interest in her was really as deep as it had seemed on the weekend and if their rapport would continue to be as easy going as it had been during those heady days.

Len also seemed hesitant. They had yet to touch or do anything intimate since she’d arrived, both exercising reserve and needing some time to adjust to meeting up like this in the city, where so much had happened between them in the past, some of which had been pretty heavy.

Once they settled down to the delectable dinner Len had prepared, however, they both fell back into their usual teasing banter.

By the time Len invited Rowan over to the sofa after dinner, they were both more comfortable and relaxed. Once they’d sat down, Len turned toward Rowan and offered her a serious, meaningful look, his eyes free of any filters.

“So, are we really together now? I mean, we’re not just being casual…are we?”

Rowan smiled softly at the earnest questioning in Len’s eyes. He looked hopeful but underneath that she discerned a barely perceptible hint of fear and trepidation.

“I’d like to be together with you, as long as that’s what you want too.” Rowan paused. “I’m not actually very good at being casual and…I don’t know, it didn’t really feel like we were being casual on the weekend.”

“No, it didn’t, did it?” Len smiled like a weight had suddenly been lifted off of him and he was genuinely happy. Rowan was getting more used to that smile and it filled her with a sense of contentedness at seeing it.

Len was silent for a few moments and his expression evened out. He was regarding Rowan as if he was trying to figure out how to say something important but difficult. Rowan was likewise thinking of how to share some of her own thoughts that had been floating around in her mind throughout the evening but Len took a deep breath and found his voice before she did.

“I can’t change the things I’ve done in the past Rowan and I know I’ll never be a good person because of them but…I have changed from when we first met. I want you to know I’ll try my best not to let you down but…I don’t think I can ever stop being the person I am entirely. I’m still a thief. I don’t think I can be anything else at this point.”

Rowan regarded Len carefully as she let his words sink in. Nothing he’d said surprised her but the sincerity with which he spoke caused her to feel a surge of affection for him. 

They were undoubtedly an unlikely pair and it was obvious they were both struggling to reconcile that fact with their growing openness and closeness with each other.

Rowan swallowed and organised her thoughts to respond.

“I get that Len. I don’t expect you to change for me and…the truth is, my moral quandaries regarding your…occupation aside, I quite like you the way you are. I know you’ve done some bad things but…I believe that deep down you are a good person…underneath all those smirks and witty comebacks.” 

Rowan’s lips quirked up into a smile and Len smiled back at her, appearing genuinely and deeply pleased by what she’d said. Rowan then took her turn to voice some of the things she’d been reflecting on over the past few hours and days.

“While we’re on the subject of…you know…us and what we’re doing, the thing is I can’t really change the person I am either and…I don’t really want to. I’ll always be a bit of a ‘goody goody’ so if that’s going to be a problem for you in the long run maybe we should figure that out now.”

Len’s signature smirk made an immediate reappearance and he shook his head while rolling his eyes.

“Rowan. Please. I’ve known you for over a year now. I’m well aware of your deeply entrenched ‘do-gooder hero type’ tendencies. I can assure you I’m fully reconciled with them and they won’t be a problem. I mean, it _would_ be pretty hypocritical of me to expect you to jump on over to the rogue team at this point when I’ve just said I’ll never be able to make the leap onto the hero team.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you could be some sort of rogue-hero hybrid.” Rowan joined Len in his smirking and they both laughed lightly.

“Well if I can be one of those then maybe you can too.” Len smiled at Rowan and they both looked down before their eyes met again. 

“Ummm…there was one other thing I wanted to mention.” Rowan regarded Len evenly as she decided to be fully open with all she’d been reflecting on since the weekend.

“What’s that Ro?” Len looked intrigued.

“Well, it’s just that…the way I was dressed on the weekend…that first night I mean. You know that’s not my usual style. I’m not one to usually go in for the totally…conventionally feminine routines. I just hope you’re not expecting me to… reproduce that situation too often…I mean maybe now and then but…” 

Len was looking serious but also unperturbed as Rowan searched for the right words to communicate what she was really trying to say to him. As Rowan faltered a bit, Len shook his head.

“Trust me Rowan, if there’s anything you don’t need to worry about it’s that. First of all, as hot as you looked on the weekend,” Len smirked and Rowan blushed slightly, “that’s not the reason I want to be with you. I can’t deny it affected me but…it’s not why I wanted to sleep with you. Not really. Plus, I’m pan so I’m really not attached to any particular gender norms…it’s your body after all. No one but you can decide how you want to express yourself. I totally respect that.”

Rowan exhaled and realised she’d been more concerned about how Len would react to her body when she wasn’t all coifed and shaved to the max than she’d been fully conscious of. His words reassured her to a degree she hadn’t expected them to. Her autonomy over her bodily decisions was really important to her and it meant a lot that Len could articulate so clearly that he completely understood and respected that. 

“I didn’t know you were pan…that’s so awesome!” Rowan hoped she didn’t sound silly as soon as she’d spoken but the endearing smile Len gave her settled her concerns. He leaned forward and spoke again.

“And just for the record Ro…I’ve been finding you pretty hot for a while, if I’m being honest. Like now…for example…” Len continued leaning further forward, closer to Rowan as she also leaned toward him.

“Oh really?” Rowan smiled and reached out to tentatively graze her fingers over the top of Len’s hand. 

The look in his eyes was focused and intensely desirous as Len took her hand and kissed the pulse point of her wrist. He then kissed further up her arm, taking some time to nuzzle at her neck before they finally joined their lips together and let loose the longing and desires that had built up between them throughout the evening and over the past few days while they were apart.

Their conversation having calmed both their minds, soon after they moved their activities to a large, luxurious bedroom off the main room. Any lingering worries of the previous few days fell away as both Len and Rowan found comfort and pleasure in each other and continued to explore their preferences and desires.

Rowan reflected as she lay in Len’s arms afterward that no matter where they spent their time together, as long as she ended up pressed close against him with his arms around her, she felt like she was home.

~

Len woke early, as usual, and looked down to see Rowan’s face nuzzled into his chest. He’d been more nervous the evening before than he could remember being in a long time. 

He’d wanted to make everything perfect for his first dinner date in the city with her, still fighting the voices in his head telling him that it was ridiculous to believe that someone like Rowan would actively choose to be with a pathetic excuse for a human being like him. He’d kept those voices at bay by remembering all the times they’d shared meaningful moments together over the past year or so and all that she’d texted him the night before. 

He’d stressed about which of his safe houses he should invite her to, going back and forth a few times between three of his nicer ones. He’d finally settled on the nicest, worrying the other two, while comfortable and clean, were just a bit too bare and utilitarian for such a special night.

He’d gone all out, as was his habit when he really cared about something. He’d lit candles to set a romantic mood and bought potted red roses because he knew Rowan would appreciate those. He’d also spent all day preparing a meal to outdo the ones he’d made for her at his house on the weekend.

In the end, everything went smoothly but not so much because of any of those things. Rowan seemed nervous too when she arrived but she was the same as she always was toward him; warm, respectful, witty and kind, if occasionally exasperated by his roguish sarcasm. 

It still threw Len for a loop even though he was getting more used to it. He just wasn’t accustomed to anyone other than Lisa and Mick treating him like a real person.

Len realised too late that Rowan wasn’t the sort of person to be particularly at home surrounded by the opulence of his fancy penthouse suite. He sensed she felt slightly out of place at first. Len didn’t miss her glancing down at her outfit when she first walked in, as if she was worried that she was underdressed. She was back to dressing in her more typical appealing but down to earth, not overly showy style.

All went fine though once they got talking. Len wondered, not for the first time, how he’d ever managed to find someone he could talk to so easily.

As he ran his fingers lightly along Rowan’s bare arm, he reflected that maybe he should give up this place in the near future. It was by far one of his most expensive investments to maintain and he’d really only purchased it initially to have somewhere to impress other criminals with if he ever needed to…which had happened so rarely it was almost not worth it at all. 

Okay, so he had also gotten a humongous kick out of buying something so expensive and luxurious and partying whole nights away with Lisa and Mick the first few months he’d owned it. It was a huge symbol to him of having made something of himself and succeeded in becoming a first class thief, something his ridiculous excuse for a father could never have dreamed of. 

But that achievement seemed somewhat moot now. Len no longer had to worry about proving he was better than his father. The more time passed since he’d killed him, the more perspective Len felt he was getting on the totally inordinate amount of influence Lewis had had on his life and he didn’t really feel like he needed the same symbols of success anymore.

Maybe he would run the idea past Rowan when she woke up to see what she thought. Perhaps they could take at least one dip in the whirlpool before he let go of the place though. That would be nice. He tightened his arms around her and smiled at how good it was to have someone he felt totally comfortable talking to about these types of things. 

Not that he didn’t occasionally discuss such things with Lisa and Mick but they tended to leave that kind of decision making up to Len. Plus, they also tended to want to hold onto everything just for the sake of having as many places to crash and party as possible.

Len’s mind started to settle back down as he lay in contemplation next to Rowan. He decided not to wake her but to wait until she woke up naturally or the alarm went off, whichever came first. She’d have to go into work in a few hours but they should still be able to enjoy some time together before she would have to start getting ready. 

Hopefully there would be plenty of time for a decent breakfast before Rowan would have to leave. Len could certainly get used to this lifestyle. He smiled to himself again as he held a still sleeping Rowan close. Yes, Len wouldn’t mind this being an every morning thing, if it could be.

He knew he shouldn’t get ahead of himself, but with the way things had been going for him lately and in light of their discussions the evening before, he gave himself permission to actually hope such a thing could actually happen.

For now, he just enjoyed the sound of Rowan’s breathing in and out and the first hints of the lightening dawn sky filtering through the still drawn blinds.

~

They’d been seeing each other for a couple of months and Len felt like he was finally starting to understand more about what Rowan’s network was really trying to accomplish and why they had to work the way they did. Even with Len’s intimate understanding of corruption, he had to admit to being surprised at how high up some of this stuff went.

It was late September and Len and Rowan had been working non-stop for hours, going over previous intel and her network’s past missions in an effort to strategise possible ways out of Rowan’s team’s current impasse. 

Rowan was appreciating more and more how Len’s insights into criminal organisations and his grasp of the many applications of well thought out subterfuge could potentially aid in achieving her group’s ultimate goals. The time flew by and when they finally noticed they were both famished and checked the clock, they were surprised to find it was well past dinnertime. 

Rowan ordered in Thai from her favourite local restaurant and then warmed up some delicious organic apple cider, adding some cinnamon rolls into the pot while it simmered.

Len had taken up a place on her couch and was stretching his arms up above his head while simultaneously stretching his long legs out in front of him. Once Rowan had set both glasses of steaming apple cider down on the coffee table he caught her by the waist and pulled her down toward him so that she was straddling him.

They were both laser focused while they were working but once they were out of work mode…well, certain other focuses tended to take over rather quickly. 

They had been managing to see each other fairly frequently over the past two months but there were still times when days went by and they were too busy with other things to spend time together so they still revelled in each other’s closeness whenever they had the chance to enjoy it.

Rowan smiled at Len. “The food should be here in about half an hour.” She placed her hands gently on Len’s shoulders.

“Hmmmm…sounds good. We could do quite a bit in half an hour.” Len smirked and shifted his hips while tracing the outline of Rowan’s face and pushing a few wayward strands of hair behind her ear.

He kissed her gently at first, but quickly became more passionate. Rowan responded in kind. She’d been getting more and more distracted toward the end of their planning session, trying hard not to notice Len’s full lips as he spoke while they were winding down their strategising.

She took full advantage of the access she had to them now, darting her tongue between and around them, teasingly at first, then more ardently.

~

Across town at Star Labs, Barry and Cisco were taking advantage of a rare chance to hang out together just for fun, enjoying a weekend unusually free of any discernible meta activity anywhere in the city. They’d just finished watching _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn_ for the umpteen millionth time and were now lounging in the Cortex with some sugar filled beverages and other not so healthy evening snacks.

Cisco decided to casually check the satellite, just to be sure nothing of interest had cropped up while they’d been watching the movie, when he noticed a small blue light blinking and chirping softly on one of his monitors. Instantly concerned, he pulled up a map of the city to see where the signal was coming from.

Barry was in the middle of an experiment to see how many extra cheesy nacho chips he could fit into his mouth at one time and how quickly he could speed chew and swallow them when Cisco broke into his snack food related revelries.

“Unhhh…Barry, I think we have a problem.” Barry registered Cisco’s oft-used rising panic tone and his head snapped up from his chip bag. 

“What is it?” Barry put the chips down and flashed over to stand behind Cisco, peering over his shoulder at the computer screen.

“You remember when Captain Cold broke in on you last Christmas and even though he did it to warn you that Weather Wizard and Trickster were planning to kill you we still agreed it would be a good idea to have some kind of warning system in place to let us know if Snart was ever in the vicinity of any of our homes again?” 

Barry reflected that Cisco’s explanations sometimes gave him a run for his money in terms of speed talking.

“Yeah, I remember.”

“So, I had a few spare minutes the first day we were back in January and I programmed the satellite to set off this alarm if that ever happened and, well, it just happened!”

“Whose house is Snart close to right now?”

“That’s just it Barry, he’s not close to anyone’s house! He’s right now, as we speak, inside Rowan’s apartment! And from the heat signatures I’m reading, she’s in there too and from their proximity to each other it looks like Snart might be attacking her! Gahhh! I knew it was too good to be true that he’d just stay off the radar indefinitely! You gotta go Barry!”

Barry wasted no more time. He nodded grimly at Cisco and flashed into his suit, arriving at the door to Rowan’s apartment only a few seconds later.

He didn’t even consider knocking; it was too risky. In spite of all that had happened with Snart’s sister and father, and how much Barry truly believed the man had good in him, Leonard Snart was still a wild card, capable of anything. If he’d slid back into his criminal, kidnapping ways Barry was ready for him.

He promptly phased through the wall and whooshed to a hard stop as he heard what sounded like a muffled struggle coming from the direction of the couch. Barry quickly moved closer so as to be able to see what was going on. 

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Rowan’s cat Snuggles lift her head from where she was sleeping in the lower compartment of her cat tree and look at him quizzically.

And…well…okay, so Snart was definitely not attacking Rowan because she was on top of him and he seemed to be pretty comfortable underneath her. Hmmm…no, not struggling…at all. 

Barry rounded the end of the couch and tilted his head to one side to get a better angle to figure out what they were doing and…’Wow! Oh…my god!’ Barry’s inner voice went into overdrive as the shock of finally being able to see them clearly started to fully register.

Barry’s mouth fell open and he gasped. Rowan tensed and abruptly disengaged her lips from Len’s while lifting her head toward the sound. Her eyes met Barry’s and she gasped too, pushing herself up onto her knees and pulling Len halfway up with her.

She knelt for a few moments with a shocked and horrified expression on her face that mirrored exactly how Barry was feeling. 

Len had one hand resting on Rowan’s hip as he propped himself up on his other elbow so that he could maintain his halfway sitting position. While he did look surprised for a beat, it wasn’t long before one of the smuggest, most self-satisfied smirks Barry had ever seen on the thief spread over his features. 

Rowan broke the awkward and stunned silence first.

“Geez Barry! What the hell?”

“Unhhh…I was just about to ask you the same thing Rowan. You know that’s Captain Cold you’ve got there right? As in, criminal, thief, rogue, super villain...” 

And _my_ personal nemesis Barry thought to himself, trying to ignore the fact that he was suddenly feeling rather irked that one of his team members was having clandestine alone time with _his_ nemesis. He pulled his cowl back so that he could speak with Len and Rowan as Barry rather than as the Flash.

Len allowed the spirit of his smirk to ooze through every word he said. 

“Now, now Barry. Don’t be upset. Rowan’s just the first one of your little band of merry heroes to have figured out that underneath all the Captain _Cold_ paraphernalia, I’m actually pretty _hot_.” 

Against all the laws of nature, physics and the universe, Len’s smirk somehow managed to deepen even further.

Rowan sighed and her eyes shot upward, though she couldn’t help smiling at the same time. Barry gave himself an inner pat on the back for somehow managing not to groan. He cursed his pigmentation though, as he could feel his face was noticeably turning crimson.

Barry decided not to feed into Len’s ostentatious teasing for once so he let the comment lie. He was still totally confused though.

“Rowan, I just don’t understand what’s going on here.”

Rowan opened her mouth to respond but Len gently put a finger to her lips and said softly, “Let _me_ explain…one of us was bound to have to do this at some point anyway.”

Rowan nodded and Len gracefully shifted so that he was sitting properly on the couch with Rowan sitting flush against his side. Barry noticed they were holding hands and he couldn’t help but look perplexed anew at the gesture.

“You see Barry, when two consenting adults really _like_ one another, _a lot_ , sometimes they want to express those feelings in a physical way. It’s called _sex_ and it usually involves some combination of…”

Len would have continued, probably indefinitely, if Rowan hadn’t swatted him gently on the arm and admonished him to be serious for a moment, all while mostly succeeding at stifling the beginnings of some fairly inappropriate giggles.

Barry turned away from both of them and shook his head but even he couldn’t stop a small, reluctant smile from forming on his face. Villain or not, Snart always had a way of taking hold of situations and playing them to his advantage. Clearly, today he was in a mood to be especially silly.

Barry took a breath. “You _know_ what I meant Snart. How are you two together …like…” Barry stuttered, waving his hands back and forth between them, “…this?”

Rowan exhaled softly and turned to Len. “Len, do you mind if I speak with Barry alone for a few minutes?”

“Not at all…take as much time as you need.” Len feigned seriousness. “I still think you should let _me_ explain though. I had to give Lisa pretty much the same talk when she was a pre-teen.”

Barry’s eye roll was one for the ages. Rowan just shook her head and gave Len a quick kiss on the lips before leading Barry into her bedroom so she could close the door and afford them some privacy.

Once they were alone Rowan found she wasn’t sure how to begin. Barry was still looking flustered and somewhat…out of sorts. Rowan decided she’d best just plough through her explanation as quickly as possible.

“Barry…I’m not sure why you’re here but…I’m sorry you found out about Len and me this way. I would never have meant for it to happen like this.”

Barry’s face settled into a restrained frown as he stared at Rowan for a few moments. Then he shook his head again, his eyes darting to the side.

“Len, huh?” Rowan couldn’t tell if Barry was angry or just in shock. “How long have you two been…together?”

Rowan thought to herself, counting in her head. “I guess it’s about two months now. Really not that long.”

“Two months! That’s…a significant amount of time Rowan.” Barry still seemed torn between sheer amazed surprise and confused horror.”

“Look Barry. I know this may not be something you’d ever have expected but…Len is helping me with something important. Something that could be really good for a lot of people if we’re successful. Many of whom are in very serious trouble and really need help. You’ve said it yourself plenty of times that you believe there’s good in him and…well…I can attest to the fact that you are absolutely right about that and…Barry? Barry, are you okay?

Barry had doubled over and looked like he was possibly on the verge of either throwing up or collapsing. 

Rowan rushed to his side and bent down to get a better look at his face but just then he straightened up and let loose a torrent of giggles that quickly evolved into full blown laughter. Barry laughed and laughed, harder than Rowan had ever seen him laugh before…and just when it seemed he’d gotten all his chortles out he started guffawing yet again.

Rowan couldn’t help joining in a bit, his laughter was so contagious, and Barry looked so adorable clutching his sides and trying to pull himself together, only to fall apart again.

After a while though, Rowan started to wonder if Barry was ever going to settle down.

“Is it really _that_ funny Barry? You are going to be okay right?” Rowan had an urge to start tapping her foot he’d been laughing so long at that point.

“I’m…I’m sorry Rowan,” Barry managed to stammer through lingering giggles and uneven deep breaths. “It’s just…once the shock wore off I couldn’t help it. Cisco thought Snart was attacking you and all this time you’ve been…well, keeping him out of our hair for one thing.”

Barry had largely composed himself and was now just smiling broadly and rubbing the back of his neck.

“I guess it would be inappropriate of me to ask if Captain Cold is a cuddler?” Barry smirked warmly, with a touch of lingering embarrassment.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Rowan arched an eyebrow and smiled mischievously. 

“ _Soooo_ you want to know what I’m like in bed, hmmmm?” Len’s familiar drawl caused both Rowan and Barry to snap their heads to face the direction of his voice. Len was leaning against the doorframe, clearly having somehow opened the door soundlessly. “Didn’t realise you were interested Barry. Guess you just weren’t _fast_ enough to beat Rowan here to the good stuff. Can’t win ’em all I guess.”

Len sidled up to Rowan wrapping one arm around her back and capturing her lips in a thoroughly decadent, tongue-engaged kiss that lasted several seconds.

When they pulled apart Len turned to smirk at Barry who was smiling but also blushing quite an impressive shade of crimson.

“What can I say kid, you snooze you lose. Just for the record, I am _amazing_ in bed. Rowan can attest to that, can’t you Ro?”

Rowan just leaned her head against his shoulder and chuckled. “Yeah, you’re truly amazing in oh so many ways…not bad at bragging either.”

“I’ve never been big on false modesty.”

Rowan and Barry just rolled with Len’s light-hearted mood. They both knew from experience it was best to just go along for the ride when he was like this.

“So, I guess seeing as you’re not in any…imminent danger at the moment Rowan, I’ll just…make my way back to Star Labs.” Barry made to replace his cowl and move toward the bedroom door.

“Oh, just a moment there, _Flash_.” Len met Rowan’s eyes meaningfully and then darted them over to meet Barry’s. “I don’t suppose you’d see it in that big, hero’s heart of yours to keep this thing between Rowan and me a secret for the time being, now would you? I don’t think we’re quite ready to go full on public with our relationship…not yet anyway.”

Barry turned and looked at Rowan. “It’s just for now Barry…just while we’re working on this project together. It’s…extremely delicate.” Rowan looked hopeful and Barry’s eyes flicked downward, his expression thoughtful.

After a moment, Barry nodded. “I’ll tell Cisco…damn, I’m not sure what I should tell Cisco. He knows the Cold gun was here. That’s why we thought you were in trouble Rowan.”

Len perked up. “Just tell Cisco you came across the unlikely sight of me injured on Rowan’s couch and that she, being the warm hearted heroine of the story, was patching me up. It’s the truth actually…just a bit out of date.”

“Plus it wasn’t on the couch,” Rowan whispered but Len just inclined his head and closed his eyes, silently conceding the point.

Barry offered a quizzical expression but didn’t say anything. “It’s a long story Barry but that’s a good explanation.” Rowan was once again thankful for Len’s penchant for hiding greater truths inside realistic sounding lies of convenience.

Barry nodded. “Okay.” He turned to go again but then hesitated. 

“You’ll tell me though right, if you need help with anything?” He phrased it like he was asking both of them but was looking mainly at Rowan when he said it.

“Absolutely Barry.” Rowan smiled genuinely, feeling a little bad that they were asking him to keep something from all his friends and teammates, even though it was important and necessary.

With that, Barry nodded again and this time he did pull his cowl back over his face before flashing away in a swish of displaced air and lightning streaking behind him.

“Oi! Well that was a bit of a mood dampener, no offence to the kid.”

“Dinner will be here soon anyway I guess.”

“You know, it might not be such a bad idea to keep the kid’s offer of help in mind. There may come a time when Team Flash could be just what we need to turn the tables on your ‘untouchable’ sleazebag.”

Rowan pondered that thought for a few moments and then nodded slowly. “I guess I never wanted to drag anyone else into this mess but you may be right. Let’s keep it in mind at least.”

Len gave Rowan a quick kiss on the lips before leading her back into the living room. They snuggled close on the couch drinking their warm apple cider until their food arrived and then spent the rest of the night after dinner making up for the lost time that had resulted from Barry’s unexpected visit.

As they drifted off in Rowan’s bed that night with Snuggles fast asleep at the foot of it, Len vaguely wondered if he should leave his Cold gun at home from now on if he came to spend time with Rowan at her place. It was the first time he’d brought it with him since they’d gotten together and it had drawn some unexpected attention. 

Or maybe he’d just have to have a word with Barry and encourage him to make sure Ramon stayed out of their hair from now on. Len suddenly felt grateful that whatever had tipped them off this time hadn’t clicked in when he’d stumbled into Rowan’s place the time he was shot. Team Flash showing up at that juncture would have changed everything, and not for the better.

Whatever…Len would figure it all out in the morning. He allowed himself to drift off, comfortable with his arm around Rowan and smirking at the memory of the hilarious look on Barry’s face when he’d first come upon them together on the couch. Now _that_ was a job well done and a worthwhile day’s work. Len fell asleep content and smirking.


	8. Legends of Hallowe’en

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, there is a brief and non-graphic reference to a past incident of child sexual assault in this chapter. I just wanted to mention that in case it might be triggering for anyone out there. The main reference is in the short paragraph that starts with: 'His voice was very soft but clear when he spoke...' This paragraph occurs just a little less than half-way through the chapter. 
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who is reading this!

Len stepped aside to let Rowan into one of his nicer safe houses, though not the fancy penthouse. This one was a modest but well furnished apartment in the north part of Central City. He noted the serious expression on her face and made an extra scan of the hallway before closing and triple locking the door.

“Everything okay Ro? Your texts sounded urgent.”

“I’m fine but…I’m not sure Len. I need your advice about some communications I’ve just received from my network.”

Rowan had walked hastily into the living room after removing her shoes by the door and was absentmindedly taking off her jacket. Len followed and smoothly took it from her, quickly hanging it up in the hall closet. 

He walked back over to where she was now standing by the couch, brow furrowed, clearly agitated. Len stroked her biceps tenderly up and down, then enveloped her in a firm hug. Rowan hugged back practically slumping against his chest.

Len reflected on how novel it still felt to be so comfortable sharing such physical closeness with another person. The degree to which Rowan was currently leaning against him, as if he was the only thing keeping her upright at the moment, was a thoroughly new sensation though.

He pulled back and met her eyes, concern now emanating from his own. She looked more unnerved and uncertain than he’d ever seen her before.

“Can we sit down?” Rowan’s voice conveyed that uncharacteristic insecurity.

“Sure,” Len responded gently.

They sat together on the couch and Rowan pulled up a series of texts on her phone.

“I received these a couple of hours ago. I’m not sure if I can take them at face value or if…something’s about to go terribly wrong.”

Len took Rowan’s phone and examined the texts. 

“Who’s Rip Hunter?”

“He’s one of the senior members of our team.”

“Humph. Sounds like a porn star name if you ask me,” Len mumbled sceptically.

Rowan immediately burst into uncontrolled giggles and Len congratulated himself inwardly for already having succeeded at lightening her mood. Her laughter continued for a good few seconds before she was finally able to calm down enough to get a word out.

“It’s not…it’s not his real name. It’s just a code name but…please, please if you ever happen to meet him do _not_ say that to his face. He is _really_ not the most laid back person…like, at all.”

“Hmmmm…well I’ll do my best to restrain myself for your sake Ro. But really, it would be his own fault for choosing such a… _questionable_ code name.” Len was smirking but was also still flicking through Rowan’s texts with a serous look in his eyes.

After a few more moments he stopped flicking.

“I’m not sure I’m totally following the conversation on here. It sounds like you’re being invited to a Hallowe’en party in San Diego?”

“Oh, right…I get so used to our codes I forget sometimes they’re not understandable to anyone else.” Rowan took back her phone, scanned the texts again and then explained.

“So, Rip is basically inviting me to a meeting in San Diego and the cover is this huge Hallowe’en bash that’s held at a big hotel there every year. Which is an extremely unusual move to begin with, but it’s also really odd that he would use a cell phone text to extend the invitation. We usually reserve cell phone communications for emergencies.”

“So…either something big is up or…something big is wrong?” 

Len immediately understood why Rowan was so concerned. One of the similarities between Len’s work and Rowan’s was the need for absolute security and consistency in terms of communications protocols. Any deviation from agreed upon norms was a red flag that something was amiss.

“I don’t know Len. With all the talk of there being a mole in the network, I just don’t know how to read this. I…don’t know if I should go.”

Len saw the obvious danger…that it could be a trap. It could be the message was not actually from the unfortunately code named ‘Rip Hunter’, or it could be that it was from him but the meeting was a ruse to get Rowan out of her safe zone to a location where she would be more vulnerable. This ‘Hunter’ person could be the mole after all.

On the other hand, it could be on the level and, in that case, it would be critical to their planning for Rowan to go to the meeting and find out what was going on.

Len leaned back on the couch and hummed. He took Rowan’s hand that was closest to him and traced his fingers across the back of it, then threaded his fingers through hers.

“I think you should go Ro, but with me as back up…and maybe Mick and Lisa too.”

Rowan sat looking deep in thought for a few moments, then nodded. “I think you’re right. That’s probably the best way to handle this.” She paused, then exhaled. “I feel like I need to find out what’s going on but…I wouldn’t want to walk into that situation alone. We’ll both…or all…have to be very careful though. If Mick and Lisa come you’ll have to tell them to watch their own backs as well as ours.”

“That won’t be a problem. All three of us are used to taking care of _ourselves_ first and foremost. And Lisa is every bit as observant as I am. She can help Mick keep an eye on things while you and I meet up with your porn star friend.”

Rowan shot her eyes up to the ceiling and shook her head while cracking a small smile.

“Len, I swear if you…”

“I know, I know. Don’t worry Ro, I’ll be on my very _best_ behaviour.” Len set his features into an expression of utmost innocence. “Of course, if this Rip of yours tries anything I won’t hesitate to turn him into a porn star shaped popsicle.” Rowan laughed in exasperation and bumped Len’s shoulder playfully.

“Seriously though, we’ll need to let Mick and Lisa in on this ASAP because the meeting’s next Saturday night. We’ll all need costumes too. It’s a ‘ghoul versions of superheroes and villains’ themed party so…well I guess you could all go as yourselves if you wanted. You are real life super villains after all.” Rowan smiled mischievously at Len as he let the beginnings of a proud smirk creep onto his face.

“Ghoul versions though?”

“That shouldn’t be too hard to pull off. I’ve already got a few ideas for you Mr. Cold, if you’re up for them.”

“Hmmmm… _Mr._ Cold huh? That probably shouldn’t turn me on as much as it does.” 

Len’s voice dropped to a husky whisper. “Maybe we should take a little… stress break before we do anything else. You seem pretty wound up. Wouldn’t want to mix too much nervous anxiety with a planning session. That never ends well.”

Len’s lips had moved to Rowan’s ear as he breathed those last words and he shifted to hover over her. He gently pulled her closer, sitting back down and manoeuvring them so that she was straddling him. His hands moved up her arms and over her shoulders, massaging and caressing as they lingered there. 

“I probably…should try and relax.” Rowan’s speech became breathy as Len’s lips gently captured hers. She melted into his embrace and her mouth opened easily to his enthusiastic tongue. 

“Just for a little while though…we should get…planning.” 

“Yeah…just a little while.”

In spite of their words, Len’s enthusiasm and intensity only seemed to increase and Rowan was only too happy to match him. Maybe calling Lisa and Mick could wait just a while longer. 

~

Rowan lay in bed, much more at ease than when she’d arrived and relieved that she and Len had formed the beginnings of a plan to deal with the latest anxiety inducing development in her chaotic work life. 

Len was in the bathroom taking a brief shower while Rowan took a few minutes to rest. They’d had a more extended and…creative time together than they’d perhaps originally meant to.

As she contemplated the thought of Len possibly meeting other members of her network, she suddenly came to a thoroughly alarming and disheartening realisation. If Len was going to back her up for this meeting, there was something she would need to share with him beforehand and it would be best not to procrastinate about it, much as she’d prefer to avoid it altogether and indefinitely.

Rowan reflected on how the trust between herself and Len continued to grow the longer they worked and spent time together. It gave her some measure of comfort...but it was still hard not to be outright scared about what she was considering sharing with him. Even a month ago, Rowan just could not have even countenanced such a thing. 

As she listened to the somewhat calming sound of the shower, she realised that however this reveal ended up impacting their professional alliance, she was far more worried about how it might change Len’s fundamental opinions about her. 

Maybe it didn’t make sense, considering his past misdeeds, but it was hard to escape the fear that she might be about to rock any notion he may have that she was in any way a competent agent…or even a decent person, let alone a good one. 

Rowan pondered how much she’d come to value her relationship with Len and how much his opinion of her had come to matter to her. Len’s support had helped her immensely over the past few months, not just in terms of his strategic contributions but even more so in terms of her mental and emotional health. 

It felt good to be with someone who clearly respected her and valued her thoughts and experiences in life. Rowan hated to think that at least some of that respect might be in jeopardy due to what she was planning to share about her past, but she didn’t see any way around it. It would be so much worse if Len learned the details from a stranger, such as one of the agents who’d never let the whole thing rest.

As Rowan ruminated on all these thoughts she started to feel more and more anxious and fearful. But…considering how close they were getting maybe it was inevitable this would come to the surface at some point anyway. Was there even any point to Len having a misguided belief that she was a better person than she actually was? Rowan decided it was probably best to disavow him of any delusions he had about her sooner rather than later.

When Len emerged from the bathroom he found a fully clothed and apprehensive looking Rowan perched on the edge of the bed.

Len regarded her quizzically. “And here I thought I’d managed to get all that tension you came here with worked out of your system.” Len smirked. “Looks like we may need to go a few more rounds to be sure we’ve fully… _optimised_ your relaxation.”

“Um, Len?”

“Yes Rowan?” Len’s smirk disappeared and his brow furrowed in obvious concern at her hesitant delivery.

“There’s…um, something I need to share with you, if we’re going to go to this meeting in San Diego together. It’s…about me.” Rowan looked down and Len tilted his head, pausing a moment before smoothly easing himself down to sit beside her on the bed.

“What’s on your mind Ro?”

Rowan steeled herself to tell Len the one thing she’d hoped she’d never have to share with anyone who didn’t already know. It was the thing she felt by far the most ashamed of in her life but, simultaneously, also the most conflicted about. 

The truth was that no matter how much time passed, she continued to have mixed feelings about the whole episode. She knew there were strongly mixed feelings about it among members of her network too, which was why she felt she had to divulge the truth to Len beforehand if there was even a small chance he’d end up interacting with any of them.

Rowan took a deep breath and met Len’s eyes, then decided she’d rather not be looking straight at him for this so she looked down and away again. 

“So…several years ago I was part of another group…a precursor to the one I’m part of now. I…did something…accidentally. It wasn’t part of my plan. It was something that happened on a job and it…caused a lot of problems. I think you should know about it because it still affects how some members of my network view me.”

Len was clearly listening intently but didn’t betray anything else. When Rowan paused to collect her thoughts he just waited patiently for her to continue. 

“I was working in a much more front line capacity at the time. I…” 

Rowan hesitated again and swallowed. She opened her mouth to continue but suddenly found it so dry she couldn’t form words. Len put an arm around her and gently rubbed her bicep up and down, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. As she turned to look at him he regarded her with an unusual, thoughtful look on his face, laced with something very genuine behind his eyes.

His voice was very soft but clear when he spoke. “Is this about that time you shot and killed two piece of shit assholes you and your partner walked in on while they were in the process of assaulting a child and also shot and injured a bunch of other bystanders in the room? Because if that’s what you’re so concerned about telling me…you have nothing to worry about. I get that you were disciplined and it led to a reorganisation of your team but…shit happens Ro. Trust me, I get it.”

Rowan’s face registered an expression of such startled shock she appeared utterly at a loss for words. After a few seconds, she found her voice.

“H…how do you know about that?”

Rowan sounded completely astonished and her eyes looked larger and more incredulous than Len had ever seen them before.

Len squeezed Rowan’s arm reassuringly.

“Let’s just say my early efforts to gain intel on you weren’t as much of a complete bust as you may have thought. Don’t worry Ro…that’s the only significant piece of information I ever found and I’ve never breathed a word about it to anyone. Your secret is safe with me. Well…me and Hartley.”

“Hartley knows!”

“Relax Ro.” Len was still speaking very softly. “He knows to keep it to himself and I have no doubt that he will.”

Rowan still looked completely blindsided but took a few deep breaths and then met Len’s eyes.

“I never meant to…to do anything like that. I honestly didn’t see it coming. I never meant to let the violence push me over the edge and mess up the work of my team. I’ve been over the lead up to those moments in my mind a million times and I swear I didn’t realise I had so much anger built up in me that I was on the verge of losing control like that.”

Len responded instinctively. He drew Rowan into a firm hug and she closed her eyes as she pressed her forehead into his shoulder. Len held her tightly for several long moments.

“I understand…believe me. Let’s face it. It would be pretty damn hypocritical for _me_ of all people to hold something like _that_ against you. Besides, I know a thing or two about how hard it is to feel like you can’t protect someone against the monsters who are hurting them. If I’d had access to a gun when I was a kid, I might have killed my father a lot sooner than I did.”

Rowan exhaled softly and much of the tension in her body seemed to ease out of her. 

“Thank you…for understanding.” Her voice was soft but heartfelt. She wiped a few tears away and then rested her forehead back against Len’s chest.

“No worries Ro. All part of the package.”

Rowan giggled softly at Len’s exaggeratedly self-satisfied tone as another tear of relief careened down her cheek. Len wiped the tear away and let his mouth curl up into a fond half-smirk.

“We can talk more about this any time you want. But for now…what do you say Ro? How about we make plans to crash a party?”

Rowan wiped one last tear away and nodded. “How about you call Mick and I’ll text Lisa.”

Len smiled and kissed Rowan on the temple. “Deal!”

~

By the time Rowan, Len, Mick and Lisa entered the darkened ballroom the celebration was already in full swing. The room was the largest in the hotel but it was already packed with people, all decked out in their Hallowe’en finery, eating, drinking, chatting, dancing or just swaying to the upbeat pop notes of ‘Baby You’re a Haunted House’. 

The ballroom was decked out to look like an extra creepy version of a city skyline with an abundance of Hallowe’en staples, including bats, black cats with glowing eyes, ghostly apparitions, grimacing Jack-O-Lanterns and the odd witchy looking figure peering out of a decrepit looking doorway or from behind a tree. 

There were also silhouettes of what appeared to be heroic vigilantes and shady villainous figures known for their nighttime exploits in various cities around the country. Rowan caught sight of a figure that was surely meant to be the Flash, but then it was obscured by a dancing party-goer and her attention turned back to the crowd.

The revellers had generally gone all out with their costumes. This was clearly a crowd that included some dedicated cosplayers as well as some hardcore Hallowe’en fans. 

While some in attendance wore easily recognizable superhero or villain costumes with just one or two added details to meet the ‘ghoulified’ requirement, others had donned more Hallowe’en focused get ups with just a touch added here or there to suggest something superhero-or-villainesque to fit with the overall theme of the evening.

Rowan couldn’t help but smile at the scene. The whole thing was just…neat, and it was a refreshing change to suddenly be among so many seemingly happy, creative people having a good time in such a fun atmosphere. The setting was undeniably cool and creepy but the vibe was friendly and inviting. If only they weren’t here on business Rowan could see herself getting totally into this.

She glanced back at her small cohort as they wended their way through the initial crowd by the doorway and over to a somewhat less crowded area by the bar. 

Ever since she’d told Len about her mess up years before, she'd felt even closer to him and like they were becoming a more and more coordinated and formidable team. This was really their first actual mission together, however, and Rowan had to admit she was pretty excited, if still highly aware and focused.

Len was right behind her, decked out in his parka and customary all black attire, his actual cold gun holstered to his thigh but made to look like a costume accessory with some glittery fake snow that Lisa had gleefully applied in their hotel room, much to Len’s resigned dismay. Lisa insisted she could get it all off afterwards. Len had pouted while telling her she’d better remove every last molecule of the stuff when they got back to Central.

Len’s ‘costume’ was rounded out with fake vampire teeth and some dark makeup around his eyes. Lisa had worn down his substantial resistance and finally convinced him to let her cover his whole face with white sparkly foundation to transform him into the ‘ultimate ice vampire’, as she’d put it. 

Rowan had to admit, the effect was rather striking and Len looked amazing. Anyone who’d ever come face to face with Captain Cold would likely still know it was him but anyone else would never guess the ghostly looking ice villain was, in fact, the real deal. The makeup and glittery snow spray concealed just enough to disguise how authentic Len’s ‘costume’ really was.

Lisa, for her part, had gone all out on playing up her ‘Golden Glider’ persona, opting for a rather elaborate and bedazzled figure skating costume, complete with boots that looked like figure skates but without the blades. The dress she wore was an orangey, gold colour, covered with diamonds and other jewels, many of them real. 

She’d swept the front part of her hair up into a small bun and left the rest of it hanging down in luxurious waves interwoven with bejewelled ribbons.

In keeping with the dual themes of the evening, Lisa had decided to be a ghost version of herself, so she’d used the same glittery snow spray she’d used on Len’s gun to cover her dress in a translucent layer of spooky looking glittery white. She’d also attached glittery white ribbons to its top and sleeves that billowed out around her as she walked, adding to the ethereal effect that her naturally smooth and graceful movements created.

While they’d been getting ready, Len had questioned her as to where the figure skating idea had come from, to which Lisa had just rolled her eyes and looked exasperated. 

“Are you telling me you don’t remember all those lessons you took me to as a kid? I was getting pretty good before…well, until I wasn’t allowed to go anymore.” The siblings shared a pained look that neither Rowan nor Mick missed. 

But the moment was over quickly and Len just tilted his head and said, “Of course,” which seemed to mollify Lisa. She smirked and nudged Len’s arm lightly. “Admit it Lenny…of all of us, I have the _coolest_ costume.” 

It was Len’s turn to roll his eyes and shake his head. “Whatever sis.” Lisa grinned and her eyes sparkled with excited mischief. She was clearly loving this entire caper.

As for Mick, Rowan had to stifle a giggle every time she looked at him. He, like Len, was wearing his typical Heatwave outfit of overalls and fireman jacket, with his heat gun covered with strips of neon tape to make it look less genuine. He’d taken a liking to a rather sizable and aggressive looking flexible plastic rat in the costume store they’d all visited to get ideas. The rather scary looking rodent was now securely fastened onto the left shoulder of his jacket…for some reason, known only to the man himself.

Mick seemed to think that was enough of an addition to cover him for the night but, unsurprisingly, Lisa disagreed. What started out as playful teasing had somehow led to Mick actually letting Lisa darken his nose with black makeup and attach black whiskers to his upper lip with sparkly facial glue.

Rowan wondered where in the world the whiskers had come from until Lisa whipped out an extra large black headband with rat shaped ears on top and determinedly placed it on Mick’s head. She’d clearly come into this evening prepared with plans of her own. 

Rowan had glanced over at Len, who was leaning in his characteristic way against a wall with his arms crossed, his expression warring between amusement and horror. She was sure Mick would balk angrily at Lisa for what she was doing to him but he just sat there impassively as she worked her magic.

When done, Lisa held a mirror up to Mick’s face. He took in his decidedly un-scary appearance without registering any emotion, simply grunting and then rising from the chair. “We ready then?” was all he gruffed out. 

‘Lisa certainly has a way with these two’, Rowan thought to herself, not for the first time. The faintest hint of a bemused smile flickered over Len’s snow dusted features before he banished it and pushed himself off the wall.

“We should get a move on. We don’t want Ro here to be late to meet her… _associates_.” Judging by his smirk, Len had been about to make another porn star reference, Rowan just knew it but, thankfully, he’d reeled himself in.

Rowan was dressed as the mythical Cailleach, though perhaps a somewhat loose interpretation of her. She’d been at a loss for what to go as at first, being neither a superhero nor villain herself after all, but then she’d decided to incorporate her network codename into her costume and also riff a bit on her relationship with Captain Cold. Among other things, the Cailleach was the Queen of Winter after all.

When she’d first shared her costume idea with Len he’d tilted his head and looked quizzical. Rowan had done her best to explain what she knew of the Cailleach and he’d then looked the mythology up online for more context.

“Couldn’t you have picked something easier to pronounce Ro?” Len was not usually one to complain about such things and had an inquiring mind for new words and information but the Irish spelling was clearly throwing him. 

“It _is_ easy to pronounce. Its pronunciation just follows Irish spelling rules, not English, so it’s not phonetic in the way we’re used to.”

“Then why not just spell it Caillix or something similar when writing in English? It would be so much more straightforward.”

“Well,” Rowan hesitated. “Where would the fun and mystery be in that?”

“Hmmm.” Len seemed to actually consider her answer seriously. “I _suppose_ you’re right. You know it says here she’s a hag figure. You sure that’s what you want to go with?”

“Yes. What’s wrong with dressing up as a hag? It _is_ Hallowe’en after all.”

“Well…” Len looked slightly torn. “It just seems like you might have to use a lot of make up and…robes. Is that really practical when we don’t know what we’re going to be up against? Shouldn’t we all be keeping our focus on the real reason we’re going to this shindig and make sure we’re dressed to be ready for anything?”

Rowan sidled over to where Len was still sitting in front of his computer and leaned back against the table it was on, peering down at him. 

“Is that _really_ your only concern?”

Len looked inscrutable for a few moments, then caved. “All right, so I may also have been thinking you would look _awfully_ good in one of those extra tight, sexy superhero costumes. Now one of those would provide excellent range of motion.” Len smirked warmly up at Rowan who stuck her lips out in slight irritation.

“Len, this is business.” Rowan smiled and leaned down toward his ear. “Why don’t we save that kind of dress up for when we’re alone and have time to really enjoy it?”

Len’s eyes dilated slightly and his smirk grew. “Now _that_ is a plan I can get on board with.”

“Besides, I wasn’t really thinking of going full on hag for all the reasons you just mentioned. I should be able to find a cloak that won’t get in my way too much and I’ll go more with the ‘earthy winter queen’ motif than the ‘decaying gatekeeper to the world of the dead’ one. Okey-dokey?”

Len rose from his chair and put his arms around Rowan. He smiled down at her before kissing her lightly on the lips. 

“Fair enough.” 

So it was that Rowan now found herself by the bar, scanning the room, wearing an ankle length dress with slits up the sides and black leggings underneath. On top she wore a light yet impressive looking cloak with a hood, clasped at the front with a weathered broach that had a triskelion symbol on it. 

The dress and cloak were both a mossy green colour but Lisa had extended her spraying fun to include Rowan so now her cloak had swathes of glittery snow dust covering much of it. At least she kind of matched Len and Lisa; otherwise she felt a little out of step with them.

She’d gone with minimal make up, aiming for a dignified, earth winter goddess vibe, rather than wrinkled, old crone. Normally she’d love to go all out hag for Hallowe’en but she didn’t want to run the risk of freaking her colleagues out too much, or Len for that matter. He wasn’t a crazy femme obsessed kind of guy at all but their relationship was pretty new and it was still kind of novel and fun to feel his attraction to her, which he tended to communicate rather freely whenever they were alone and in subtler ways when they weren’t.

Rowan had racked her brain trying to figure out a way to add some super hero-y or villain-y element to her costume. Just when she thought she’d have to forego that detail due to a complete lack of ideas, Lisa suggested whitening the front part of her hair to make her look like the character ‘Rogue’ from the X-Men. 

“It goes with your ‘Queen of Winter’ vibe and you are kind of an honourary Rogue now that you’re dating Lenny so it’s perfect!” 

Rowan couldn’t deny how happy she felt when Lisa said she was like an honourary rogue. They really had come a long way from the first time Len had suggested she consider joining his team. 

Lisa had grinned from ear to ear when Rowan had gratefully agreed and she’d also made sure she was the one to ‘fix’ Rowan’s hair when the time came. Really, none of their costumes would have been nearly as awesome without Lisa’s brilliant contributions. 

So it was they’d all managed to conform to all the requirements of the event, which would hopefully help them blend in and not attract any undue attention or curiosity. 

Len was ordering drinks at the bar while Lisa and Mick casually scoped out the room. Rowan took the cranberry juice Len had known she’d want and their eyes met meaningfully as he handed it to her. They were all on high alert as they put their agreed upon plan into action.

Mick and Lisa stayed behind near the bar for the time being, while Rowan and Len ventured further into the crowded room. Once they’d scanned the whole place for possible threats, they made their way toward the hallway Rip had indicated Rowan should follow to reach the smaller room where the meeting was to take place.

As planned, Len accompanied Rowan to the head of the hallway but then let her proceed alone to the meeting room. Although Len didn’t particularly like the idea, they’d agreed Rowan bringing an unknown guest with her into the meeting wouldn’t likely go over well with other members of her network so he’d have to stand guard outside and be ready as back up should she need it.

Within a pocket in her dress, Rowan had a small device she could use to alert Len at the press of a button if she needed him. It would also simultaneously alert Mick and Lisa, who by now had fanned out to opposite sides of the room to keep an eye on all the entrances and exits, just in case anyone with obvious ill intent should show up.

Len took Rowan’s now empty glass and gave her a quick nod before they parted. He didn’t watch her as she headed for the non-descript doorway that was her destination, instead scanning the crowd again for possible dangers and then stepping back into the shadows to finally glance back at Rowan as she reached the door, took a deep breath and cautiously walked inside.

~

Rowan was psyched to be ready for anything, including the worst, when she walked through the doorway Rip had described, but the sight she found on the other side was not like anything she had anticipated.

She hadn’t known if Rip would come alone or if he would be accompanied for their meeting, but at most she thought he might bring one or two other operatives with him, for safety and incident verification purposes. She had never once imagined this would be a full-on group meeting, mainly because those were entirely unheard of in her work. At least they had been up until now.

Rowan was on time but there were already almost a dozen people in the small, dimly lit space. Like herself, they were all dressed up for the party, to the point that it took her a while to recognise all the agents, some of whom she’d only ever seen in photos anyway. Thankfully, none of her most vocal critics appeared to be present. 

“Ah, Rowan! So glad you could make it. We’re all here now, excellent!”

Rowan quickly scanned the room and nodded a hello to those assembled. She took in a measure of the group, assuring herself she was safe, at least for the time being. No one seemed put off that she was there. In fact, everyone nodded back to her or murmured a hello with similarly neutral or, in some cases, slightly quizzical expressions. 

Rowan instantly noticed that Rip was the least dressed up member of the group, having for some reason opted to don a long, well worn trench coat over what looked like some sort of old western get up. Rowan couldn’t think of any superhero or villain that dressed like that. She also couldn’t see any way in which his costume fit the ‘ghoulified’ theme of the evening.

Everyone else in the room had clearly put more effort into their respective outfits. 

Rowan’s eyes were immediately drawn to Sara, the operative who’d saved Linny earlier in the year. Her codename was White Canary and she’d somehow managed to either find or commission a totally badass white leather outfit with an incredibly awesome knee-length jacket that Rowan envied immediately. She seemed to have had a similar idea as Lisa and was covered in glittery white foundation with black kohl around her eyes that truly made her look like an extremely creepy ghost version of herself.

The only other person in the room Rowan had ever really talked to much before was Ray, who seemed to be dressed like some robotic type superhero but with wolf ears and a long furry tail that he’d somehow rigged up to move back and forth on its own. If Rowan remembered correctly, he was extremely friendly but a bit eccentric. His costume suited him well.

The others in the room made for a motley crew of colourful and creatively costumed operatives. As she looked at each one more closely, she realised most of the group seemed to have had the same idea as Rowan and Sara and had used their codenames to inform their get ups. 

Rip clasped his hands together and drew everyone’s attention back to him.

“So, once again, thank you all for coming. I realise this was a highly unusual request and I apologise for that, especially considering our…current situation; our security having been compromised some months ago, as you all know. However, I really saw no other option than to gather you all together with some haste so, well, here we are.”

He paused, for dramatic effect it seemed, providing an opening for someone else to speak.

“Soooo…why are we all here then?”

A fairly young member of their network spoke up. He was dressed in a bright yellow and red outfit that must have represented some powerful superhero Rowan wasn’t aware of. Then she remembered…it was Jax, a newer operative whose codename was Firestorm, so that made sense. There were tissue flames sprouting from his headpiece and, like Len, he’d gone the plastic vampire teeth route to ‘goulify’ his core costume.

“Right. I’ll get straight to it.” Rip looked around at everyone meaningfully. “About a week and a half ago, just before I contacted all of you and asked you to meet me here, Gideon shared a rather alarming piece of information with Agent Stein and myself. While reviewing the latest intel from the east coast she noticed a…pattern of sorts. You can imagine after what happened in the spring with the close call that Ms. Lance here thankfully thwarted, all senior staff have been doing our utmost to identify where our security has been compromised. I mean do we have just a single mole or have our technical systems been hacked on some sort of wider scale? We just haven’t been able to come up with anything conclusive.” Rip paused again for maximum effect. “That is, until now. Gideon?”

Gideon, the only other senior staff person present, stepped forward and nodded to Rip. She was dressed as a rather impressive, if creepy, cyborg version of Wonder Woman.

“As Captain Hunter mentioned, we’ve been attempting to detect the source of our security breach for months with no success. However, ten days ago I was running a deep scan of our systems and noticed a small anomaly. When I analysed it further, I was able to verify that, in terms of the timeline, it corresponds exactly with the compromise of Ms. Williams’ identity.”

“Were you able to trace the source of the anomaly Gideon?” Amaya, who was dressed like a fierce, genuinely scary looking zombie-like fox and was standing next to Sara, looked hopeful as she asked the question.

“Only insofar as it originated from one of our operatives on the eastern seaboard. I was unable to pinpoint an exact agent but, by employing a very extensive process of elimination, I was able to determine that the agents in this room could not have been the source of the breach, nor were any of you connected to it.”

“Wait, Gideon, there are only nine agents in this room besides you and Rip. Are you saying we were the only ones you could trust enough to invite to this meeting?” Zari’s brows were furrowed and her expression had morphed into one of alarm. 

Rowan eyed her carefully, for the first time noticing how beautiful she looked dressed as Isis, the powerful Egyptian goddess, but with subtle yet comical cat ears and whiskers accessorising her outfit.

“I’m afraid so, Ms. Tomaz. You were the only field agents whose integrity I was able to conclusively confirm. Which is not to say that all other agents are compromised but only that there is no way for me to be absolutely certain about the other 72 of them. As well, Captain Hunter, Agent Stein and I are the only senior agents whose trustworthiness I could be 100% sure of.”

“Wow…not a great ratio in terms of agents we can count on then.” Rowan had heard through the grapevine that Nate Heywood had quite the sense of humour but he was looking positively grim at the moment. Rowan couldn’t help wondering what he was supposed to be though. He looked kind of like a big, silver soldier of some sort but she couldn’t quite figure it out, especially in terms of the Hallowe’en aspect; though on closer inspection, she saw what looked like fake bullet holes with ‘blood’ pouring out of them all over his costume. 

Her thoughts were brought back to the matter at hand when Rip raised his voice again.

“Unfortunately not Mr. Heywood. So, I hope you can all see why I felt this meeting was necessary.” Rip slowly moved around the inside of the circle of those assembled with his hands clasped behind his back, meeting each agent’s eyes as he passed them. 

“We are at a totally unprecedented and highly sensitive moment in our team’s mission. The need for this group here, with the addition of Agent Stein who was unable to be with us tonight, to maintain the utmost discretion even in relation to the rest of the network, has become _absolutely_ vital. We cannot allow anything to infiltrate this core group for fear of further compromising our work at its most critical juncture.”

Rowan scanned the room and everyone was glancing around and looking equally concerned and apprehensive.

At that moment the door to the meeting room quietly opened and Rowan heard a set of soft footfalls that had grown very familiar to her over the last few months. She was thankful that her back was to the door because as she watched the faces around her register surprise and then alarm, she couldn’t keep her own expression from betraying her thoughts, which could easily be summed up in a single phrase. 

‘You have _got_ to be kidding me!’ 

Len reached Rowan’s side just as she turned to face him, having schooled her expression by that point to one of restrained question. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her fellow agents swiftly bring forth various weapons and adopt defensive stances.

Len’s drawl was full-blown Captain Cold when he spoke and somewhat jarring, as Rowan realised she wasn’t so used to hearing it anymore, now that he used his own voice when speaking to her most of the time. Rowan noticed he’d discarded the fake vampire teeth before entering the room.

“Sorry to crash your party folks…but I thought you should know. It seems we’ve got unwelcome company.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay!!!! The Legends are here!! In their honour, I included a small anachronism in this chapter. Not sure if anyone will notice what it is. (:


	9. Rogue Nation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is definitely one of my favourite chapters and I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it! (:

Rowan felt just as alarmed as everyone in the room looked. That is until Len tapped his ear and cocked his head, apparently listening to the comms unit he’d nicked at some point from Star Labs that connected him with Lisa and Mick.

“Well, that’s a relief. False alarm folks. Some suspicious looking people entered the ballroom a couple of minutes ago but it turns out they’re the evening’s live entertainment. Sorry Ro. It’s been 10 minutes. I was starting to get worried. Might have overreacted a touch.” 

“Who the hell is _this_ dude?” Jax exclaimed, likely voicing what everyone else in the room was thinking, the expression on his face bordering on panic.

“What the hell Rowan?” Sara’s eyes had narrowed into a threatening glare, her severe gaze darting back and forth between Rowan and Len while her whole being emanated danger.

“Everyone just calm down.” Rowan’s voice was clearer and more commanding than Len had ever heard it before. “Look, I had absolutely no idea what I was walking into tonight so I brought backup. Linney’s a good friend of mine and the last time she walked into what was supposed to be a routine meeting we all know what happened.”

No one moved a muscle but the tension in the room seemed to lessen slightly. 

Rowan exhaled. “This is Leonard. He’s with me so you can all relax and put your weapons down.” 

Still no one moved. Rowan stared everyone in the room down. “You can put your weapons down or you’ll be fighting both of us.”

That seemed to register somehow and most everyone shifted back to more defensive rather than imminently offensive positions.

“Wait a minute.” It was Kendra who spoke up for the first time since Rowan's arrival. “You’re not just any Leonard. You’re Leonard Snart aren’t you?” Her expression was surprisingly amused as she looked him up and down. “Nice costume Captain Cold.”

Leonard smirked at her and nodded. “Always _pleased_ to meet a fan.”

Rowan couldn’t prevent a small smile forming on her lips at Len’s easy and suave insouciance, in spite of the obvious tension in the room. She was simultaneously confused but impressed by Kendra’s elaborate costume, which seemed to embody a kind warrior like bird of prey themed superhero of some kind…maybe based on a hawk…complete with fairly enormous wings and presumably fake blood dripping from her lips.

Rip seemed to finally find his voice and Len knew immediately who the wannabe porn star was in the room. The man’s face was flushed and contorted into the most put upon, irritated scowl he’d ever seen. Len almost laughed out loud as the phrase ‘constipation incarnate’ flickered through his mind.

“What _exactly_ is the meaning of this Ms. Callahan? All this time we’ve been driving ourselves mad trying to find the chink in the armour of our security and, as it happens, you’ve just taken it upon yourself to… _invite_ someone to one of our secure meetings without any clearance or authorisation or, or any thought whatsoever as to the consequences!”

“And not just any someone either.” Sara was actually smirking now, which struck Rowan as somewhat funny, causing her to relax slightly. “A career criminal.”

“A _criminal!_ Well, now, that’s just brilliant! Have you taken complete leave of your senses Rowan…or are you the mole?” Rip’s eyes narrowed and he moved closer to her, apparently trying to figure out what was going on simply by peering menacingly into her eyes.

Len immediately stepped closer to Rowan in a protective gesture, which seemed to alarm everyone else in the room anew. 

Rowan slowly held up her hands and breathed out an irritated but even toned, “No.”

She scanned the group to make sure no one was about to do anything impulsive and then glanced at Len, nodding for him to back down for now.

She sighed. “No, I am not a mole and I am not trying to compromise anything, let alone our safety or the mission, but you have to admit we’ve been at a virtual stand still for months now in terms of our ultimate goal and if we don’t figure out a way to bring our target down soon this whole grand enterprise is going to implode.” Rowan was glaring directly into Rip’s eyes and Len noticed a lot of subtle nods around the room.

“The longer we limp along not knowing who compromised Linney and how much of our so called network is busted the more dangerous it is for all of us and the more likely it is our plan will fail. And if that happens none of us will ever be safe no matter where we go and everything we’ve worked for and sacrificed for will have been for nothing. Not to mention all the people who are counting on us to get them out of the utter hell they’re currently living in will be out of luck!”

“You gotta admit the girl’s got some good points there, Rip.” Sara’s smirk was still present, though less so. Her eyes were serious, accompanied by a very no nonsense tone in her voice.

Rowan glanced around the room again and noticed a lot of worried but thoughtful expressions. Ray was nodding.

“It is true Rip. I mean it’s great that Gideon found a lead but we still don’t really have any specifics on the security breach that happened. And Rowan’s right, we are running out of time.”

Rip still looked harried and upset but he also seemed to be listening to what was being said and absorbing it. A dark frown claimed his features but it was a resigned one.

“Look, I…understand, you’re all on edge and eager to finally complete our mission and get on with your lives. _Believe_ me when I tell you Gideon, Martin and I are equally eager. However, you _have_ to trust that we are doing our utmost to keep you safe and figure out a way to finally take down...” He paused, his eyes flicking to Len. “…our target.”

Rowan had explained to Len that everyone in her network tended to avoid using even a codename when referring to the perp they were ultimately trying to catch. They spoke only in generalities as much as possible. Not even their ‘network’ had an official name so as to minimise the risk of someone figuring out that they were all working together and what they were up to. 

However, they did use real names on occasion and Len sensed Rip had been just about to do so but had stopped himself due to the presence of an outsider in the room.

“That’s all well and good Rip but at some point we may have to admit to ourselves that everything we’ve been trying so far hasn’t been working.” 

Nora’s expression was intense but otherwise didn’t give much away as she spoke for the first time. Her totally hip and stylish witch get up somehow contributed to the weight of her words. Her gaze darted to Len and something indefinable lit behind her eyes. 

“Maybe it’s time we do start getting…creative.” Nora’s smirk was more subtle than Sara’s had been but was no less surprising.

Rowan felt a profound sense of gratitude that Len was such a compelling and charismatic presence. He’d barely said or done anything yet and most of the agents in the room already seemed more intrigued than alarmed at the thought of him somehow playing a role in their mission. 

She hadn’t dared to ever imagine such a reaction but if she and Len could convince them all that their ideas could work it would make the rest of their planning so much easier.

“So what is it exactly that you propose, hmmm?” Beneath Rip’s intensely sceptical expression Rowan perceived desperation, fatigue and, possibly, a small hint of hope.

“Leonard and I have been talking this over for the past few months and…”

“The past few months!” Rip’s face took on a whole new level of incredulity.

“Just…let her speak Rip. The rest of us want to hear this.” Rowan nodded at Zari in thanks for her attempt to calm Rip down.

“As I was saying, Len and I have been strategising for the past few months, analysing everything we know about our target’s operations and we think we may have come up with a plan to finally take him down but…it’s probably going to sound pretty crazy when you first hear it.”

“You mean crazier than ‘Criminal Freeze’ here helping us do it?” Rowan couldn’t tell if Nate was trying to keep the mood light or if he was genuinely dubious about Leonard wanting to help.

“It’s Snart actually…Leonard Snart,” Len drawled. Then he smirked. “…but in keeping with your group’s penchant for codenames, you can all call me _Cold_.”

“Cold? I don’t get the reference.” Rip looked lost.

“It’s his super villain name…well, half of it anyway,” Kendra helpfully supplied.

“Super villain! You’re a _super villain_! What...! Just…! How is this even remotely helpful Rowan, sharing highly classified information with an, apparently, known super villain? I mean if you were going to go rogue and compromise our security somehow couldn’t you have picked someone less…inappropriate?” Rip stuttered and waved his hands around at the end of his sentence, clearly not knowing how to otherwise describe the unfamiliar and impressive being before him.

“Now hold up there, Rip!” Rowan could sense Leonard’s patience with this conversation waning. 

“Haven’t you ever heard the old adage that it takes a criminal to catch an even bigger criminal? I’m the _perfect_ ally for this admirable but so far rudderless endeavour of yours.” Rip all out pouted at Len’s ‘rudderless’ comment. 

Len continued. “I’m tolerant of extremes, I have certain skills and I’m _excellent_ at providing direction.” Rip’s pout deepened. “And, best of all, no one will ever suspect the consummate criminal Captain Cold has taken up with a bunch of do-gooder hero types. The same goes for my sister and criminal partner, who also want to help. We’re the perfect additions to your little band of freedom fighters. And in case you’re not sure about where my loyalties lie, I may be a thief, but I draw the line at stealing and trading in people…and if my criminal records were still available you could verify that.” 

There were some slightly confused looks around the room in response to the last part of his speech but otherwise Len’s words and the intensity with which he said them seemed to be making an impression.

“Plus, Rowan trusts me, and if you don’t trust her judgement then no wonder you’re not getting anywhere.”

Rowan noticed the eyebrows of all the female agents in the room rise simultaneously and Ray of all people was suddenly smirking. Nate looked a bit torn while Jax appeared to be suppressing a snicker.

“Your sister and…criminal partner?” Rip appeared to be struggling to keep up with and understand the language Len was speaking. His perpetually horrified glare shifted to Rowan. “Just how many people have you told about us?”

“Just the three…for now.” Rowan wasn’t about to apologise at this point. She’d done what she felt she had to in order to break the stalemate they’d all been locked in for months.

Amaya appeared tense but thoughtful when she addressed Rip. “Look, obviously, the deed is done in terms of Rowan letting outsiders in on the mission.” She then turned to Rowan. “I want to hear more about this plan of yours. If we’re the only agents Gideon feels can be trusted I say we decide together what our next move is.”

“I agree.” Sara was looking serious again and Zari added a, ‘Here here!” with Jax contributing a ‘Damn straight!”.

Rip bent his head and peered up at everyone around the room with a grave yet placating expression. “With all due respect to each one of you, this is _not_ a democracy. Gideon and I are the senior agents here. Along with Stein we still have the final say over what our next moves will be.”

Rowan felt Len tense beside her at Rip’s fairly condescending tone. If there was one thing she’d learned Len couldn’t abide, it was people he deemed less than competent insisting on remaining in charge; and he’d made it plenty clear over the last few months that he didn’t think much of Rowan’s ‘senior’ bosses.

Sara was starting to look annoyed and she wasn’t the only one. “With all due respect to _you_ Rip, if you want the rest of us to keep doing all the dirty work in the trenches, you might just have to let us have some say in how we play things from now on.”

Gideon came to the rescue before an escalating argument could ensue. “Captain Hunter, I believe Ms. Jiwe and Ms. Lance are correct that we’ve entered a new phase in this mission and strict adherence to our previous methods may not be the best way to proceed. I fail to see any reason not to hear the details of Ms. Callahan and Mr. Snart’s plan. If Agent Stein is to have a say in this at all, we’ll need to be able to report the details back to him which will, of course, require us to know them in the first place.”

“Thank you Gideon.” Rowan was relieved there was at least one senior agent present with an open mind who could also put pragmatism ahead of protocols.

“Finally!” Jax threw up his hands as if he’d blow a gasket if he had to wait another moment to hear Rowan and Len’s ideas.

“Right, so, this will probably sound totally unorthodox and like a complete departure from the way we’ve been working for years now because, well, it is.” 

Rowan paused, unsure what the reactions would be to what she was about to say. 

“But keep in mind that Leonard and his crew are from Central City and I’ve been based there for some time now so…I’m sure you all realise things work pretty differently there these days than just about anywhere else on the planet. Well, except maybe for Gotham. And National. And to some extent Star. Well you know what I mean.”

Everyone around the room nodded and there were gestures for Rowan to continue.

Rowan and Len took turns then outlining the details of their plan and answering questions from the group.

When they’d covered all the basics and expanded on points that the assembled agents were particularly curious or unsure about Rowan glanced around and was heartened to see that everyone, save maybe Rip, looked like they were open to at least considering what she and Len were proposing.

There were a few seconds of silence, as everyone seemed to be mulling things over. Then the silence was broken.

“This is madness!” Rip’s face somehow achieved a precarious balance of looking both resigned and apoplectic. 

“I like it! I’m in!” Sara was the first to confirm her support. Rowan and Sara shared a smile between them. Sara’s was mischievous, Rowan’s was grateful and relieved.

Ray was next. “Count me in too. Rowan’s right. We have been spinning our wheels for a while now. I signed up to make a difference. Maybe this is our chance to finally bring Savage down. Oops! Pretend I didn’t say that second last word.”

Rip face palmed while shaking his head. The edges of Gideon’s lips turned upwards and she looked over to Rip with what Rowan perceived as an expression of amused fondness. He missed it though because his eyes were now tightly squeezed shut and one hand was covering them.

Gideon stepped up again, as Rip clearly still needed a few minutes. “So, in keeping with Ms. Jiwe’s assertion that we should all have input into our next moves, what do the rest of you think?”

Jax was nodding and he seemed to be seriously considering things. “You know what man? I still have some questions about our roles in all of this but…it might be just crazy enough to work. I say we go for it. I mean anything’s better than just doing what we have been and getting nowhere.”

Gideon nodded at Jax. Zari spoke next. 

“I agree with Jax. I still have some questions but we need to mix things up and do something Savage would never expect.” It seemed like now that Ray had let the psycho out of the bag so to speak, other agents felt more comfortable naming their target.

“I agree too. We need to be nimble and unpredictable, and this,” Nora arched an eyebrow and made a vague circle with her hand indicating the whole plan they were discussing, “is definitely so far out of the box no one will ever see it coming.”

Nate snorted. “You can say that again. I mean it’s like something out of a comic book but hey, like you said Rowan, you are from Central.” Rowan was continuing to have trouble reading Nate but he didn’t seem overly sceptical…possibly just a bit less sure about trying something different than the others.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Len drawled smugly, looking like the cat that got the canary.

Gideon had clearly taken full charge of the meeting as Rip glanced around the room dolefully, shoulders slouched as if he was resigning himself to the fact that he was no longer in charge and the room belonged to Rowan and Len.

“So, Kendra, Amaya, how about you two?” Gideon was clearly noting all the yeas and appeared eager to get everyone’s input so they could move on to the next phase of decision making.

Amaya nodded towards Len and Rowan. “Eight months ago I’m not sure I would have been open to anything remotely like this but…I agree with everyone else. We need to do something bold and this is about as bold as it gets. I vote yes.”

Rowan smiled at Amaya as it started to sink in that pretty much everyone seemed to be on board. It was far more than Rowan could ever have hoped for. She was suddenly hit with the weight of what this could mean. If they really went all out and were successful it would transform so many lives, including her own. She was totally stoked to be working with Len on this but, with all these skilled agents also on board, it suddenly really felt like anything might be possible.

Once Amaya had said her piece, all eyes turned to Kendra. She looked more conflicted and pensive than she had all night and Rowan wondered if support for their plan might not turn out to be unanimous (not counting Rip) after all.

Kendra spoke slowly and carefully. “I’ve been fighting Savage the longest of anyone here.” Rowan realised that was true. Kendra also had a far more raw and personal reason for joining the network than most of them, having been trafficked by Savage’s thugs back when she was just a teenager and then turning to undercover anti-trafficking work after she got out. 

“No one wants to take Savage and his criminal empire down more than I do.” Kendra regarded Rowan meaningfully, then looked Len straight in the eye. “I’ll go along with this plan on one condition. I want to be there when we take him down.” 

Len opened his mouth to respond but Kendra held up a hand. “I don’t necessarily need to be in the room at the exact moment of arrest but I want to be onsite. I want to see his evil, sorry, pathetic excuse for a human ass led away in handcuffs and I want to be there physically. I don’t want to get stuck watching that on a camera feed.”

Len looked at Rowan and she held his gaze for a few moments before turning back to Kendra. She could tell Len was leaving this one up to her. “I’m sure we can make that happen.”

“Good.” A small, tentative smile appeared on Kendra’s lips. Then she turned back to meet Len’s eyes again. “And just one more thing. If this turns out to be some sort of sick game on your part and you betray us, I _will_ kill you.” Kendra’s smile widened but it was clear to everyone in the room she was dead serious. 

There was a charged silence for a few moments before Len broke it. 

“Understood. Luckily, that won’t be necessary. When I’m in on something I’m all in. With all of you on board and the aces we have up our sleeves in Central, this Savage creep isn’t going to know what hit him.”

“Ahem,” Rip’s throat clearing reminded everyone he was still in the room. “I don’t suppose I have any chance of dissuading you all, have I?”

Unanimous head shaking confirmed the answer was no so Rip turned to Gideon. “What do _you_ think?” 

A surprisingly mischievous smirk overtook Gideon’s face. “As General Xavier would say, let’s give ‘em hell! I say let’s do this!”

Rip looked somewhat stunned at his normally formal colleague’s choice of wording. Gideon had already turned away though and smiled broadly at the group. 

“I’ll brief Agent Stein as soon as possible. I’m confident he will see the wisdom of pursuing this new direction.”

~

Len and Rowan lay wrapped in each other’s arms in their hotel bed that night and couldn’t stop talking about the unexpected events of the evening, and how surprisingly well everything had turned out.

Len was joking about how he hadn’t thought Rip could look anymore non-plussed than he had when Gideon confirmed her support for their plan until, of course, Lisa and Mick were introduced to the group. He almost felt sorry for the man at that point. It’s like they had challenged Rip just that hair too much and something within him had broken.

It somehow hadn’t aided matters either when Mick assured everyone that if anything went wrong with the plan he’d be happy to just light this Savage asshole up like a barbeque. He had clearly been trying to help but Rip’s face had gone a bit green at that point and Gideon had suggested they adjourn the meeting and check back in within a few days using more normal channels.

“Oh well, there’s always his film work if Rip wants to sit this one out.” Even though the room was dark Rowan just knew Len was smirking up a storm.

“You know you really must be the silliest super villain in the history of super villains. Keep this up and no one will be the least bit intimidated by you anymore.”

“You were never intimidated even when I wasn’t being silly.”

“That’s true. But you were still impressive.”

“Hmmm…so even way back before we were fradversaries you already thought I was _impressive_. Well, it’s good you can admit that. I've always suspected you had a thing for bad boys.”

“I’m not sure I ever had a thing for ‘bad boys’ per se. But you…okay, maybe.”

“Hmmm…so am I still… _impressive_?” Len’s face was not really visible in the dark but Rowan could imagine his light smirk and intense eyes.

Rowan smiled to herself. “ _Always_. Just try not to let it go to your head.”

“Who me? Let a compliment go to my head? You _wound_ me.”

“Oh, give it up!”

Rowan launched herself at Len and they ended up rolling around on the bed, play wrestling and laughing in each other’s arms. Neither one of them would have imagined a few months ago when they’d started to sleep together how care free and playful they’d become. Now they were like silly teenagers, constantly joking and thoroughly comfortable sharing and enjoying each other’s bodies.

Still, when Len started nuzzling, then kissing Rowan’s neck, their mood quickly shifted to a much steamier one.

Rowan felt so light and relaxed as Len continued to kiss her. She reflected that she’d probably never felt as good about her adult life as she did at that moment. She finally felt like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel work-wise, when a few months ago things had been starting to seem utterly hopeless.

She and Len worked together like a well-oiled machine _and_ had a lot of fun with their near constant back and forth banter whenever they spent time together.

When it came to their intimacy, it tended to start out playful and then shift to either intense passion or gentle affection that held its own profound intensity, all of which were states Rowan had never really consistently experienced with anyone before.

Rowan was by nature, and as the result of experience, a cautious person. But that night as she and Len celebrated their unprecedented success in moving their plan forward in ways they’d never even imagined, she allowed herself the indulgence of feeling excitedly optimistic and it was an amazing feeling.

The next morning they’d have to head back to Central and start the real work of actually putting this heady plan of theirs into action. It would still be extremely dangerous and difficult and the stakes were as high as ever but with their newly integrated allies rounding out the sharper edges of their plan, they just might have a genuine shot at finally taking down a tyrant.

Rowan went to sleep in Len’s arms with a smile on her lips that remained even as she slept. Had she been awake to see it, she’d have witnessed Len’s lips likewise upturned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have recently realised I tend to end a lot of chapters and scenes with Rowan and / or Len in bed and falling asleep. I wonder if that has something to do with my chronic sleep deprivation? Definitely some wish fulfillment going on there. (:


	10. Welcome Team Flash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another of my favourite chapters...I hope you all enjoy it! Thanks to everyone who is reading this and has left kudos! Feel free to leave comments too! (:

Len had been anticipating this meeting for weeks but, now that it was about to happen, he had to admit he was feeling a touch…out of sorts. Perhaps that was unsurprising considering the most critical piece of Rowan and Len’s plan was about to either fall into place or get blasted out of the water. 

However, that wasn’t _really_ what he was stressing about. 

No, his grumpy mood had a far less selfless cause. The real reason Len was so unsettled was the thought of Barry Allen finally having a legitimate reason to say ‘I always knew it!’ and ‘I told you so!’ 

That alone would have been reason enough for Len’s glum humour but he also had to contend with the unpleasant likelihood that other assorted members of Team Flash might start to see him as something other than a terrifying super villain to be feared and avoided at all costs.

Len knew it was a sacrifice he simply had to make in order for the plan to work, and it would be worth it to put a genuine monster out of commission. Still, he couldn’t help but dread the personal consequences just the same. If there was any other way to accomplish their goals Len would have all out advocated for an ‘anything but this’ strategy.

Life had always been cruel to one Leonard Snart, however, so he was trying his best to just sigh a lot and accept the painful reality. In a little less than an hour, one way or another, Len’s hard won reputation as a thoroughly cold, calculating criminal was going to get shot to hell and there wasn’t even any guarantee Barry and his crew would agree to go along with the plan.

Damn! Len missed the days when he was just a heartless jerk who didn’t care about anyone other than himself. Okay, he didn’t really. He still had trouble articulating such things, even to Rowan, but he’d actually never been happier than he was lately. And even during his darkest times, like just before the Flash showed up, he’d never truly gotten to the point that he didn’t care about _anyone_ , no matter how much he may have told himself such things in his head. 

Len sighed heavily once again and tried to just resign himself to his fate. Disparate parts of his world were about to come crashing together and he’d just have to accept the ensuing consequences, whatever way things all panned out.

Just then Rowan emerged from his bedroom in the safe house they’d slept at the night before. She’d finished showering and dressing and came over to sit by him on the couch. His face must have betrayed some of his thoughts because she looked at him with a measure of fond sympathy.

“You sure you want to go through with this the way we’ve discussed? I mean we could probably accomplish pretty much the same ends with you pretending to be in on this solely for self-serving reasons.”

Len wasn’t sure from Rowan’s expression if she was serious or mildly joking just to try to make him feel better.

“It’s tempting but…no. No, it’s better to rip the band-aid off now and get all the gloating over with as quickly as possible. Besides, we don’t have any room for error in this grand endeavour so we need everyone to be crystal clear on what we’re doing and why.” He sighed again. “I’ll be fine…eventually.”

Len paused as Rowan smiled gently at him and grazed her fingertips over his nearest hand. He decided to continue being honest and forthcoming with her. He was learning lately, sometimes to his relief and sometimes to his horror, that talking about feelings occasionally seemed to lessen their intensity. 

“As long as Barry doesn’t get too out of hand with his ‘I always knew there was good in you’ speeches that is. I really hate the thought of him thinking he’s been right all this time.” Len was outright sulking now. “I was _ruthless_ Rowan. You remember that right?” 

Rowan looked into Len’s eyes with an odd mix of affection and disturbance on her face but she nodded and then put her arms around him and settled her head on his shoulder.

“Yes, I remember that Len. You _were_ ruthless. It was very disturbing and scary. It still is if I think about it too much.”

Len kissed Rowan gently but firmly on the head. “I knew you’d understand.” 

She was honest but non-judgemental about the past and that always calmed Len down. Whew! Len felt better already. Why couldn’t everyone else just accept he was a certified badass and always would be? Just because he wasn’t totally evil didn’t mean he was any less of a baddy than he ever had been. He was just…nuanced. Yes, that sounded good to Len. Okay, maybe this meeting didn’t have to be quite as painful as he’d feared.

A few minutes later Rowan and Len got themselves ready to go and headed out. They took Len’s bike to Star Labs and as they pulled into the parking lot they noted that, judging by the assorted vehicles, most everyone was there already.

As Len begrudgingly agreed to Rowan using her key card and official code to get into the building instead of letting him override the ridiculous excuse of a security system Star Labs had in place, he reflected that this was really it. It was show time and either their plan was about to fizzle into nothing or everyone’s lives were about to get a whole lot more interesting.

For the first time that day, Len felt a smirk pushing its way onto his lips. Now that he felt better about the whole ‘still a total badass’ thing, he realised there would be no end of opportunities to squeeze enjoyment out of the impending conversation. In his moping earlier he’d missed that fact but now he was acutely aware of it and felt primed to take advantage. 

Team Flash wouldn’t know what hit them!

~

When Rowan entered the Cortex with Len strolling along just a few steps behind her, as they’d expected, pretty much everyone they’d asked to meet them there was already waiting, save for Lisa and Mick who had texted Len that they were about 5-10 minutes out.

They’d planned their timing so that Rowan and Len would have a chance to give a brief introduction as to why they were all there before any more Rogues showed up. 

Lisa might not cause too much alarm, especially after everything that had happened when her father had put a bomb inside her neck the previous year, but Mick Rory was still a big, scary, criminal pyromaniac to the members of Team Flash so Len and Rowan had thought it best to ease them into the idea of his presence and role in the plan, as best they could.

Rowan had warned all the members of Team Flash that Len would be coming with her so as not to waste time with gasps of incredulous surprise and exclamations of ‘what the hell is _he_ doing here!’.

So, when Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Harry, Joe, Iris and Wally all looked up upon their entrance, there wasn’t any shock on their faces at seeing the parka clad, cold gun wielding Leonard Snart suddenly in their midst. Just curiosity…and possibly some evidence in both Caitlin and Harry’s expressions of wheels turning in their minds as to what Rowan and Len’s deal was lately. Barry sported a small smile on his lips and was blushing slightly.

“ _Excellent_! You’re all on time. I do appreciate promptness on the part of people I work with…well, in fact I tend to demand it.” Len’s drawl was lazy as he fixed Barry with a cheeky smirk.

“Work with? What makes you think any of us are going to work with you on anything?” Out of everyone present, Joe appeared the most unimpressed at being called to a meeting with the still wanted escaped felon, Leonard Snart.

Len flicked his eyes to Rowan and then back to Joe. “Oh, I don’t know detective…maybe my faith in your basic humanity, keen sense of justice and dedication to the rule of law?”

Whatever response Joe had expected from the infamous thief, that was certainly not it. His face took on such a confused and stunned expression it was actually comical. Rowan reflected it was the closest she’d ever seen Joe come to all out pouting.

“Since when do you care about any of those things Snart?” Iris seemed to be voicing what her father couldn’t manage at the moment. 

Len perceived the younger West clearly harboured the same harsh scepticism about him she had the previous Christmas, even though he’d warned her beloved boyfriend about a plot to kill him that time, possibly saving Barry’s life. Well, at least someone in the room still understood he would never be a total goody two-shoes hero type. Thank goodness!

Barry had been observing all of this while looking thoughtful. “Hey guys, let’s at least hear them out okay?”

He turned to Rowan. “So, what’s all this about?”

Rowan was poised to start explaining when Mick and Lisa strolled confidently, and somewhat earlier than expected, into the Cortex. 

“Hey! How did you two get in here?” Cisco looked supremely offended that yet again his security system had been breached after he’d only just recently given it a complete overhaul.

“Ha! It was child’s play, Nerdboy.” Mick came to stand beside Len and looked around. “Ahhh, I _missed_ this place.”

“Since when have _you_ ever been here?” Caitlin looked alarmed.

“What?” Mick shrugged. “It’s an interesting spot to hang around when I’m bored. Plus, great snacks!”

“ _You’re_ the one who’s been stealing my snacks!?” Cisco’s eyes went wide and his voice registered a whole octave higher than usual. “All this time I thought it was Harry.”

“Told you it wasn’t me.” Harry looked as impassive as ever and like he was giving this encounter 30 more seconds before walking if no one said anything interesting enough to make him stay.

Lisa had made her way over to stand beside Cisco and was now patting his arm. 

“There, there Cisco. You and I can go on a snack run after we’re done here.” Cisco still looked upset but also like he was trying really hard not to show how happy and distracted he suddenly was on account of Lisa’s close proximity.

“Well, now that we’re all here...” Rowan glanced at Len and he gave her a subtle nod of encouragement. She turned back to face the group and took a deep breath.

“First of all, thanks so much for coming. I know you’re all busy with all the ongoing meta-human and general criminal activity in the city so I appreciate you taking the time to hear us out.”

Caitlin and Iris smiled at Rowan and everyone else looked open and attentive. It seemed Rowan’s intermittent support for Team Flash whenever she could help out had gained her a large amount of good faith.

“Before I explain why I’ve asked you all here, I need to know that you can all keep what I’m about to share 100% confidential. And I don’t mean ‘in theory’ and then one of you goes off and spills some little detail to someone outside of this room thinking it’s okay because you kept 99% of it under wraps. This is life and death for a lot of very vulnerable people so there can’t be even the smallest leak of anything at all. Can you all agree to that?”

There were serious looks exchanged around the room and a lot of earnest nods.

Barry spoke up. “Sure Rowan, I mean, we’re used to keeping all the Flash stuff secret so that’s absolutely not gonna be a problem.”

Caitlin tilted her head and shot Barry a fond but sarcastic glance. “Barry, how many people know the Flash’s identity at this point? More than 20? Have we hit 30 yet?”

Len chuckled. “Snow does have a point there, Barry. You don’t really have the best _track_ record at keeping the Flash’s “secret” identity _secret_.”

Barry looked like he was about to argue but ended up just shaking his head instead.

“Okay, fine. I’m sure we can all treat this with an extra level of discretion beyond my identity as the Flash. Oh no! Wait! Damn!” 

Barry’s expression quickly morphed into one of panicked chagrin as his eyes darted back and forth between Mick and Lisa, his fists clenched in frustration. Caitlin shot a hand to her mouth as she realised she may have accidentally helped out him to the two rogues. What the hell they’d been thinking teasing casually back and forth like that neither of them knew.

Mick took one look at the both of them and just shook his head while chewing enthusiastically on a piece of the large cruller he’d brought forth from somewhere in his jacket a few seconds previously.

“Don’t worry Red. I’ve known you’re the Flash for a long time now.”

Lisa piped up, a dazzling gleam in her eyes and a delicious smirk on her face. “Me too!”

Barry looked accusingly at Len. 

“Don’t look at _me_ Barry,” Len drawled. “I’ve told no one.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Mick was still chewing while speaking. “I _told_ you I like hanging out here when I’m bored. All that zipping in and out of that suit you do…heh, heh, never gets old.”

Lisa’s smirk had grown even more mischievous as she took in the various shocked expressions. 

“And unlike _some_ people,” her eyes darted meaningfully to Len, “Mick never made any silly promise not to let me know who you are. As if I’m not _exceptionally_ good at keeping secrets.”

Barry was looking more and more flustered as Joe held his head in his hands, rubbing at his temples, and Cisco, Wally, Iris and Caitlin exchanged wide-eyed looks. Harry just looked increasingly irritated and bored.

“Wait, so…h…how long have you known?” Barry’s voice pitched higher and higher as he reached the end of his sentence. He really did seem potentially on the verge of panic.

Mick stopped chewing to consider for a moment. He swallowed the last piece of cruller. 

“Since just before that Jay-Zoom guy showed up last year. Hmmm…took you all forever to figure out they were the same douche bag. I considered leaving you some clues but…nah, it was way too entertaining.”

“Wait, let me get this straight.” Cisco looked appalled. “You’re telling us that you’ve been breaking in here whenever you felt like it for over a year, watching all of us without being detected, and you just happened to observe Jay-not really-Garrick-also-evil-Zoom as he sadistically played around with us, made our lives hell and almost killed Barry and you didn’t mention this to anyone at the time because you found it all ‘entertaining’. _And you’ve been stealing my snacks_!” 

That last point was clearly the clincher for Cisco. He pointed an accusing finger at Mick. “That is… _really_ not cool dude!”

“Yeah, I don’t do cool. That’s this guy’s thing.” Mick jabbed his thumb toward Len, then licked some crumbs off it.

Cisco was still very disturbed but appeared partially placated when he recognised the unintentional punning he’d contributed to based on his own super villain nicknames for Len and Mick.

Len regarded Mick with some mixture of impressed surprise and restrained annoyance but clearly didn’t want to pursue his partner’s revelations further at the moment.

“Perhaps we could let Rowan get back to the matter at hand and leave the discussion of any past… _misdemeanours_ for another time.”

Rowan pursed her lips and nodded. Clearly Len had been just as surprised as everyone else, save Lisa, at all Mick had just revealed. She recalled that Len had said before that he never really knew what was going on in his partner’s head and that definitely seemed true at the moment.

“Right, so…as I was saying I think you all pretty much know that even though I’m based at the CCPD, my work is a bit more…off the beaten track than most other cops.” There were subtle nods around the room. 

“Well…” Rowan took a deep breath and her next words kind of tumbled out, as if all the things about her life she’d been holding back for so long just couldn’t be contained now that she had a reason and opportunity to reveal everything. 

“The truth is that for several years I’ve been part of a secret, nation-wide network that’s been steadily working to take down a very well connected, powerful and brutal criminal who has hurt a lot of people over the course of many years. Our mission is coming to a head for various reasons and Len and I are hoping that you all might be willing to help us finally get this guy. It’s a big ask though, because we’re talking about someone who is extremely well protected by the upper echelons of society and who has honed his tactics for decades _and_ is just generally very good at getting away with things. I know you’re all used to dealing with very dangerous people but this guy is a whole ‘nother level of organised, entrenched evil and we’ll only have one shot at him.”

“Who is he?” Wally had been patiently listening to everything that had transpired so far while standing a few steps behind where Barry and Iris were. Now he stepped forward so that he was standing beside them.

As if that was his cue, Len brought forth a small USB key from the pocket of his parka and flicked his eyes to Cisco. He moved toward the computer nearest him.

“May I?” Len motioned that he planned to insert the key into one of the computer’s USB ports but Cisco hurried over and held out his hand for the key, clearly unwilling to let Len touch any of his precious hardware.

“Suit yourself.” Len’s eyes flicked down as he dropped the key into Cisco’s palm and the scientist quickly inserted it himself, clicking it open as the external drive appeared on the desktop.

“Open the file that says ‘Savage’,” Len murmured as his eyes moved to the screen on the opposite side of the room.

Everyone else’s eyes followed, just as the image of a middle aged, black haired man with the sleaziest expression any of them had ever seen appeared on the screen.

“I _knew_ that guy had a total creep vibe about him…even for a Senator!” Cisco’s impassioned exclamation elicited nods of agreement around the room.

“Meet Vandal Savage, corporate speculator, venture capitalist and, most recently, US Senator. Also, head of one of the most extensive global human trafficking networks on the planet. Implicated in the construction of widespread global networks set up to facilitate the large scale trafficking and exploitation of both adults and minors, often involving and leading to economic coercion, kidnapping, long-term forcible confinement, forced prostitution, otherwise known as sex slavery, forced farm labour, forced domestic servitude, etc. etc.”

Len let his introduction sink in as he glanced at the faces around the room. Everyone was looking suitably horrified, focused and grave, even Harry, so he continued.

“Even though his illegal activities have been known by at least some elements of law enforcement for many years, he’s remained out of their grasp. As Rowan hinted at, he’s extremely adept at getting other people to do his dirty work and keeping his own grimy little finger prints off anything that might incriminate him directly.”

Rowan nodded to Len and picked up where he left off. 

“As I mentioned, I’ve been working with a network of covert operatives for years to gather enough evidence to have Savage indicted for his crimes but no matter how much material we’ve gathered there’s never been enough that has directly implicated him as the ring leader. Unfortunately, there are always enough powerful and corrupt politicians, business leaders and others willing to cover for Savage that it’s been almost impossible to link him to the actual operations of his criminal network; and due to the extremely serious nature of what we need to charge him with the burden of proof will be extremely high so there’s no point trying to take him down until we have air tight, solid evidence that will hold up in court.”

Rowan glanced around the room and took another deep breath.

“Then, almost a year ago now, one of our operatives almost got killed because someone within our network blew her cover. Since then, we’ve had to work a lot more slowly and carefully because we still don’t know who compromised her identity and everyone is so on edge it’s really hampering our ability to make progress. Which…” Rowan flicked her eyes to Len, Lisa and then Mick, “…is where Len and the Rogues come in.”

Iris and Joe’s eyebrows shot up simultaneously in surprise and Rowan reflected on how similar their gestures and expressions were at times.

Len smirked and seemed to enjoy everyone in the room focusing back on him in anticipation of hearing how he, Lisa and Mick fit into all of this.

“Don’t look so surprised detective. I may have done some _ruthless_ things in the past but even I draw the line at the buying and selling of people…especially kids.” Lisa nodded earnestly at that and Mick grunted in agreement.

“Lisa, Mick and I became aware of Rowan’s dilemma a few months ago and decided to help out. Obviously this Savage turd isn’t going to be stopped using conventional means, especially if he’s got eyes on the inside of Rowan’s network. So, Rowan and I have come up with a plan to take his sorry ass out once and for all but it will require some…special talents that only Team Flash can provide.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute…” Joe’s expression was once again both confused and incredulous. “The last time we tried to work with you, Snart, you screwed with Cisco’s containment system to let all the metas go free and almost got Barry and possibly the rest of us killed in the process. Why the hell should we trust anything you say?” He stepped forward toward Len and jabbed an index finger at him. “How do we know you’re not working for this asshat?”

Len was about to respond when Mick of all people cut him off.

“Oh, that’s easy. Boss is in love with Tree Girl here. He’d never cross _her_ like that.” 

Mick jabbed a thumb in Rowan’s direction but otherwise just kept munching on the glazed chocolate doughnut he was now holding. In spite of how stunned she was by what he’d just said, Rowan found herself focusing even more on the question of just how Mick managed to fit so many baked goods into the pockets of his fire jacket. It was both perplexing and impressive. 

Rowan felt a blush rising beneath her skin and wondered how such an important conversation could keep getting flung so far off track. Although she had considered the possibility that working with the Star Labs crew on this would eventually lead to them all finding out about her and Len’s relationship, she hadn’t expected it to happen so soon, barely fifteen minutes into their pitch.

There were plenty of shocked looks to go around, though Rowan noticed Caitlin and Harry sharing a brief glance that suggested they weren’t really surprised at all. Joe’s face was registering the most extreme expression of bewildered alarm of the group, as yet again he’d received a response to his distrust that he could never have predicted.

Lisa had whipped a hand up to cover her mouth but her eyes conveyed gleeful amusement as Len turned a truly murderous looking gaze on his partner. He actually seemed at a loss for words for a few moments but finally found his voice…to a point.

“ _Tree Girl_ , Mick?” 

Even Len wasn’t sure if he was trying to shift everyone’s thoughts away from the larger revelation Mick had so casually tossed out or if he simply couldn’t deal with anything else before addressing his partner’s highly questionable nicknaming abilities.

Mick was still chewing but managed to swallow this time before speaking again. 

“Yeah. Her name’s Rowan, and that’s a kind of tree right? Tree Girl.” Mick shrugged nonchalantly as if his long-time criminal partner wasn’t currently staring daggers at him in a room full of very shocked and confused looking hero types. In spite of the scene around him, he looked thoroughly unperturbed.

Rowan noticed that Barry had a small but self-satisfied smile tugging at his lips and his eyes were alight with merriment. Iris and Wally were whispering to each other while Cisco was shaking his head in disbelief.

“Tree Girl is a… _terrible_ nickname, dude. Like really, really bad. I’m totally going to have to come up with something better. Oh, and by the way…Captain Cold is in love with Rowan?! How is this not the _coolest_ news we’ve had in a while?” A huge grin erupted on Cisco’s face as he looked around at everyone in the room, apparently expecting kudos for his latest awesome cold pun.

“Whatchya talkin’ ‘bout?” Mick was munching again and talking at the same time. “Tree Girl is perfect.”

Len’s eyes narrowed as he continued to stare Mick down. It would be anyone’s guess what he might have said if he’d had the chance but Harry had apparently finally had enough and held up a hand.

“All right. So there’s this big shot evil guy that needs taking down ASAP and somehow lover boy Cold here and associate rogues are part of the plan. Can we actually get to the plan before some of us have to go back to our own Earths to vote in the _next_ Mayoral election?”

“I thought you just got back from voting in Earth 2’s Central City mayoral election. “ Cisco looked confused.

“Yes, Ramon. I did just get back!” Harry was practically shouting. “This morning in fact. Great grasp of impatience induced sarcasm though.” Rowan noticed Harry had that annoyed yet pleased look he got on his face whenever he sparred with Cisco. Cisco just looked offended.

“Guys, why are we even arguing about this?” Iris looked around earnestly at everyone. “If Rowan needs help to take down some modern day slave trader, of course we’ll help right?”

Caitlin nodded vigorously. “I agree with Iris. What’s the point of all the work we do to keep Central City safe from metas if we don’t step up when it’s someone in charge of a whole human trafficking network?”

Barry and Wally shared a look before Wally jumped in. “I agree too. If there’s anything we can do to help we have to do it.”

Joe still looked slightly uncomfortable but he wasn’t about to disagree.

Barry nodded. “I’m in too but Harry’s right. We need to know the plan. What do you two have in mind Rowan?” Barry addressed Rowan but was glancing back and forth between her and Len.

Len smirked. “Have you ever heard the phrase ‘go big or go home’ Barry?”

Rowan met everyone’s eyes around the room. “Yeah, well…that might just be an understatement in this case.”


	11. Every Empire Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Just a heads up, there is a brief scene in this chapter that could be triggering to some readers. It briefly depicts the confinement, manhandling and intimidation of a preteen / young teenage girl. It's not too graphic and could be considered fairly canon typical violence but it could also still be triggering. If you want to skip this scene, it occurs a little over half way through the chapter and begins with the sentence, "As Len was registering alarm at what that might possibly mean..." and ends after seven short paragraphs with "All those times their father had been at his angriest, his most irrational, his meanest and his cruellest..." There is also stronger language in this chapter than most others.
> 
> This is one of the longest chapters of the story but there wasn't really a totally ideal place to cut it so...hope you enjoy!

The heavy rain pouring down in sheets through the inky black darkness of the deserted Keystone wharfs set the perfect mood for the dramatic events about to unfold. At the same time, it did complicate logistics somewhat.

Lisa and Rowan stood still as statues, well hidden among the shadows near the boarded up side door of an abandoned warehouse. They were grateful for the shelter the overhang of a decaying wooden staircase provided but it was still impossible to completely avoid the relentless spray of water ricocheting off the uneven pavement just beyond.

Both were clad all in black, waterproof jackets included, but the fierce precipitation and the cool air of the wharfs did make for a more uncomfortable stake out than would have been the case had the late fall weather been less extreme. At least the rain made them even more invisible than they would be otherwise.

As they’d been taking up their positions earlier that evening, Rowan couldn’t help observing that Lisa could give her brother a serious run for his money in terms of stealth skills. Len could be quieter than a mouse whenever he wanted to be but Lisa’s degree of silence while moving was a whole new level of impressive. 

Rowan frowned to herself as she reflected upon the origins of those skills for both Snart siblings. Then she had another thought and smiled as it occurred to her that Cisco’s choice of ‘Golden Glider’ for Lisa’s super villain codename suited her even better than maybe even he had known.

As the two of them remained motionless against the old, boarded up door, they could only just make out through the deluge the blue Mercedes parked roughly twenty metres away in the middle of the warehouse parking lot where Len and Mick sat waiting for their unsavoury new ‘associates’ to show up.

Len had agonised over which of his more high-end cars to bring to this shindig. He knew it made sense to project an image of wealth and conspicuous consumption to the scum they’d be meeting with but he hated to think one of his nicer vehicles might get shot up if things went south. So he settled on the least snazzy of his luxury cars. 

He could always have stolen something, of course, but their motley crew of plotters couldn’t risk any unwanted attention or potential wild cards. And despite, or perhaps because of, the involvement of a wide variety of do-gooder hero types, Len hadn’t received authorisation to commit any Class C felonies in the pursuit of their noble cause.

As she and Lisa watched and waited in silence, Rowan’s mind started to wander. 

While she was growing up in a reasonably safe, if somewhat lonely environment, Rowan had always dreamed of living an exciting life as an adult, doing something important and accomplishing some good in the world. 

In retrospect, those notions were largely what had led her to her current professional situation. After years of living life on the edge, however, more and more she found herself longing for a break from the constant high stakes and potentially fatal danger.

Even though she’d been part of a fairly extensive network of covert operatives for years, in real terms, Rowan was used to working alone. She’d honed her skills in the field enacting missions on her own, taking her life in her hands every time…but only her life.

Now, as she found herself on the cusp of the biggest mission she’d ever attempted to pull off, she felt at once far more confident and supported, due to the large number of very capable people who were working in concert with her, and simultaneously far more fearful that something could go wrong because, if it did, she might not be the one who paid the price for it. 

It was a sobering thought to say the least.

There were too many variables and too many people she cared about involved at this point to dwell on such qualms, however, so Rowan did her best to push all fears and negative thoughts out of her mind so that she could focus on her role in the plan.

Really, she, Len, Mick and Lisa had the most dangerous parts to play, so just worrying about their pieces going off without a hitch was potentially age accelerating enough.

Len and Mick had set their role-playing in motion weeks ago. Turned out it wasn’t hard for two of Central City’s most notorious badass criminals to insinuate themselves into the local contingent of Savage’s goon squad. All Len really had to do was text that creep Bancroft and suggest a ‘mutually beneficial’ meeting and, after that, he and Mick were welcomed into the fold with few questions and much enthusiasm.

Len had claimed he was finally ready to expand his criminal enterprises, now that his father was no longer around to do something stupid and get him caught. Like a typical exploitative, opportunistic and misogynist asshole that assumes most if not all men are just like him, Bancroft didn’t register any reason to question Len’s word.

His reputation for careful planning and meticulousness came in handy as Len insisted on one condition for hooking up with Savage’s already established empire rather than starting his own and presenting Savage with competition. Len made it clear he’d only sign on after meeting the head honcho and clarifying _all_ the details of their business arrangement. 

Bancroft initially tried to convince Len that that would be impossible; he even claimed at one point that he himself was the one really calling the shots. Len had scoffed at that and shot the creep an amused but pointed side-eye. 

In the end, Bancroft was no match for the crafty, calculating Captain Cold and the details of a face-to-face meeting were soon worked out. Len was told it couldn’t happen in Central City but would work just over the bridge in Keystone, where Savage was coincidentally planning to swing by in a few weeks to meet with some of his local underlings.

Bancroft bragged to Len and Mick after he’d set everything up that it had been an easy sell in the end because Savage had heard of the great Captain Cold and Heatwave and was eager to meet and work with the two of them.

Len played it cool while inwardly fuming at the thought that someone as despicable as Savage believed so easily that he and Mick would willingly get mixed up with him and his utterly repugnant ‘business’. The thought turned Len’s stomach and the low growl that escaped Mick when Bancroft turned away, distracted by a phone call, let him know that his partner felt exactly the same way. 

They shared a hard glance, then settled back into their roles, playing at being thoroughly conscienceless a-holes. Once they’d taken their leave of Bancroft, they remained quiet until they were well on their way back to the safe house where they’d agreed to meet Rowan and Lisa.

“You sure this plan of yours and Tree Girl’s is gonna work boss?”

Len sighed. He’d given up trying to discourage Mick’s use of his highly questionable nickname for Rowan. He stared straight ahead.

“To be honest…for the first time in a very long time…no.” 

Mick was driving but spared a quick sideways glance at his partner of 30 odd years. Len could tell by the look on his face that Mick was surprised by his admission.

“Still…I’d say we have an excellent shot at pulling this off. We have all the right pieces and people in place. Now it’s just going to come down to everyone executing their parts in the plan.”

Mick grunted but seemed to accept that. Len appreciated the trust Mick was placing in him.

When they got back to the safe house they debriefed with Lisa and Rowan. Cisco and Hartley had set up a secure server for communications between all the various heroes, rogues and agents involved in the plan but they’d agreed to keep comms to a minimum to further safeguard their plans. Rowan did, however, send out a brief coded message to the group, letting everyone know that the first piece of the plan had gone off without a hitch.

The weeks since had passed quickly, with a flurry of preparations. Now, absolutely everything came down to this one night and this one meeting.

They heard the approaching cars before they saw them. About 20 seconds after hearing the sound of engines revving down the side road from the south, no less than eight hulking black SUVs were converging in the warehouse parking lot, skidding to hard stops in a rough circle around Len and Mick’s car, in what was clearly a planned choreography designed to maximise their defensive security and also make a play at intimidation.

For a few moments all the vehicles just sat there as their engines were turned off and the rain pelted endlessly down on them.

Then, a single goon emerged from one of the SUVs and ran to Len and Mick’s car. Len rolled down his window and, after a quick look inside, the goon nodded and then Len popped the hood so he could look inside their trunk. Once satisfied with whatever he saw or didn’t see, he ran back to his SUV, quickly jumping in again and slamming the door shut.

Bancroft was likely texting Len and giving instructions the whole time so the unfortunate goon who was now drenched and dripping had clearly been tasked with verifying by sight that it was indeed Len and Mick in their car…and only Len and Mick.

The door to the warehouse started sliding open from the bottom upwards like an enormous garage door. Once it was totally open the SUVs started pulling inside in what was clearly a previously agreed upon order. Len and Mick drove in after the first four SUVs and were followed by two more. The two remaining SUVs stayed outside and re-parked facing outward from the building, one on each side of the door as it closed behind those now inside. 

Lisa gave a quick nod to Rowan who nodded back and then started soundlessly retreating along the side of the warehouse toward a thin metal ladder at the back. No slouch in the stealth department herself, Rowan moved like a near invisible shadow, nimbly climbing the ladder, still without a sound. 

Then, while employing considerable acrobatic skill, she navigated and then perched in the rafters of the old building before all of Savage’s goons had even finished disembarking from their vehicles. Rowan allowed herself a soft exhalation as she fought to keep her adrenaline, stress and fears for everyone’s safety…not least Len’s …from distracting or overwhelming her.

Rowan didn’t especially like the idea of leaving Lisa alone outside to watch out for unexpected trouble throughout the duration of the meeting, but they’d all agreed that a skeleton crew would be best for the initial on-site surveillance and back up. 

The whole of Team Flash and assorted other heroes and rogues were on standby in case anything went seriously wrong so Rowan tried to remind herself that it wasn’t really just the four of them there, even if it felt that way up in the surreal loneliness of the warehouse roof beams.

And surely the brilliant scientists of the group would come through easily with managing to remotely trigger their hidden tech once Rowan gave the go ahead. They were all truly geniuses after all. 

She allowed herself a glimmer of hope that this crazy ass plan might actually go smoothly and work to bring down the skeazy waste of flesh she could now just make out below her. The sight of him in person made her breath catch and her skin crawl in a most unpleasant way.

~

Meanwhile, in the Star Labs van cleverly concealed several city blocks away, a spirited disagreement was escalating, much to the consternation of two increasingly irritated witnesses.

“Hartley! Dude! I’m telling you it’s the red one, trust me.”

“Sorry Ciscito, but you are, once again I’m afraid, incorrect. It’s the blue one. I thought we went over this back at the lab.”

Caitlin and Kendra exchanged looks of annoyance and mounting concern as they listened to the two brilliant but stubborn scientists squabble about which wire they would have to remotely disable in order to activate the live feed from the warehouse when the time came.

“Look…Hartley…I know we’ve been working pretty well together lately and, believe it or not, I’ve come to genuinely respect your rather impressive memory, if nothing else, but I’m telling you, it’s the _red_ one! Remember, we agreed on this weeks ago back at the lab…we made it the same colour as Barry’s suit!”

Cisco was clearly expending a herculean effort not to lose his patience and ruin the progress he’d made with his former nemesis over the past year or so, ever since they’d faced their first Time Wraith together. He was also clearly about to _totally_ lose it. His voice had risen at least half an octave over the last few seconds and his hand gestures were becoming more and more animated. 

“Cálmese Ciscito! If you recall, we both agreed _after_ that discussion to make it the blue one, which was _cool_ because it’s Captain Cold’s colour of choice.”

“Hey! I make the cold puns around here! At least when Snart’s not around.”

Hartley rolled his eyes and shook his head, all with a small smile playing at his lips. No matter how much they might argue when it came to their work, he and Cisco had come a long way since the days when Harrison-not really-Wells-but-actually-Eobard Thawne had actively pitted them against each other.

Cisco put his hands to his head in a gesture of intense concentration like he was struggling to remember if what Hartley had just said was correct when both scientists turned at the sound of Caitlin and Kendra high fiving as they grinned triumphantly at each other.

“What’s got you two so happy? If you haven’t noticed there’s a wee situation developing here.”

Caitlin leaned over to Cisco and put her hand reassuringly on his shoulder. “Relax Cisco. It’s handled.”

Hartley and Cisco both looked confused. “What do you mean…handled?” Hartley’s face took on a look of suspicion and escalating concern.

“Well...while you two were arguing Caitlin and I responded to Rowan’s signal that it was safe to activate your elaborate surveillance system since Savage had finished his security sweep so _we_ went ahead and remotely disabled the wire that was obstructing the system from turning on.”

Cisco’s hands flew immediately to either side of his head, a look of unmitigated horror animating his features. Hartley just looked stunned, like he was about to throw up. He did manage to speak first though.

“You cut the blue one right? Please tell me you cut the blue one.”

“Nope.” Kendra smiled even more brilliantly than before.

“Hallelujah! You cut the red one!” Cisco flung both arms out in front of him like he was reaching toward their collective salvation.

“Nope.” This time it was Caitlin happily providing the refutation. She and Kendra exchanged satisfied smirks.

“But…but…” Cisco looked so beside himself the women took pity on him.

Kendra smiled warmly at both men. “It was the green one.”

As everyone was conversing, Caitlin had sat down in a chair in front of the multiple screens they had set up to monitor all that was going on inside and outside the warehouse. Once she’d confirmed everything was working as it should and nothing was amiss she turned in her chair to face the two baffled men and let out a light-hearted sigh.

“Don’t you remember that in the end you decided to go with that algorithm in the system you nicknamed the ‘Yoda code’ for…some weird Star Wars nerd reason? So in his honour you made it the green wire because it would, in your own words Cisco, ‘ensure the force would be with us’?”

Both Hartley and Cisco just stared at the women with furrowed brows. Their eyes then simultaneously flicked to meet each other’s. 

“I…remember that now.” Cisco wagged his finger up and down and a smile overtook his face. “How could we have forgotten _that_ of all things! It’s brilliant!” Cisco’s smile morphed until he just looked perplexed, all fear, horror and recrimination gone from his expression.

“Huh. It is strange that we would both have forgotten such a key detail.” Hartley looked thoughtful.

“You don’t think _maybe_ it had something to do with that latest batch of experimental hooch for Barry you two got into that night once you’d finished putting the final touches on your surveillance system after working on it nonstop for three weeks…do you?” Caitlin was giving Cisco a loving but somewhat exasperated look as she spoke.

“But…we each only had one drink!”

“And promptly fell forward on your faces.” Kendra had her eyebrows raised but was still smiling.

“I don’t remember that.” Hartley still looked thoughtful.

“Exactly!” Caitlin and Kendra’s voices blended seamlessly as they both exclaimed in unison.

“Well, fortunately _we_ were paying enough attention and remembered what to do when the moment came…and your system seems to be working perfectly.”

Caitlin motioned between herself and Kendra while speaking, then turned back to the data readouts. They all gathered around the screens to focus on what was going on down at the Keystone wharfs.

~

Len had been feeling apprehensive about this whole endeavour ever since Team Flash agreed to come on board but, in spite of whatever differences they’d had in the past, his uneasiness wasn’t because of them. He hadn’t ever been able to put his finger on what exactly was bothering him so much about the whole grand plan. 

That is until now.

Vandal Savage was one of the last figures to emerge from the dark SUVs after they’d all pulled into the warehouse and the door had once again been closed. Perhaps he thought that if he kept Len and Mick waiting for a few minutes it would add to his mystique. In actuality, it was just pissing them both off.

When he finally got out of his vehicle and strode over to where Len and Mick were standing, his eyes flitted to Mick, then met Len’s. And there they locked, fixing him with a gaze Len could only describe as gluttonous, naked ferocity. 

And just like that it clicked…and Len’s stomach lurched.

He was staring into the eyes of a man just like his father, only vastly more powerful and significantly less curtailed by cognitive weaknesses.

It was all there in that stomach-churning expression: the greed; the lust to wield power over others, especially the vulnerable; the sadism; the complete lack of any care or love for anything other than himself and his own avariciousness and accumulation of power.

Fuck. Len felt nauseous.

If only he’d been able to anticipate or identify sooner what had been bothering him all this time he’d have been better able to prepare for it. The only consolation Len could think of was that he could feel his face twisting into an aggressive sneer, which was a defensive reaction, but one that might just help him project the ‘rotten to the core’ persona he was here to sell the vile brute before him.

Savage stood still for a few moments, face to face with Len and Mick. A dozen or so of his goons arrayed themselves behind and to the side of him with a few more having moved to guard the door and other possible entrances and weak spots throughout the warehouse. Len noted they were all armed with military grade semi-automatic weapons.

Len intended to let Savage speak first, so for now he just held the shithole’s gaze. Said shithole took his time though, running his eyes up and down both Len and Mick, obviously trying to give them the impression he was appraising them and measuring their danger level; and ultimately their value to him.

Once he’d finished his scan, Savage’s eyes again met Len’s and his lips turned up in a nasty, villainous smirk, nothing at all like even Len’s coldest ones.

“So. I finally get to meet the infamous Captain Cold…and Heatwave.” The way Savage inflected his voice and tilted his head to Mick with his last two words made it clear he meant to make it sound like Mick was an afterthought. 

‘Yeah, we already know you’re a piece of shit motherfucker,’ Len fumed to himself. 

He fucking hated when people pulled that nonsense on Mick and him. Whether they were actually trying to put Mick down or else drive a wedge between the two long-time partners, it didn’t matter. ‘Too bad for the twisted fool,’ Len thought. He and Mick had talked about this shit because it had happened before and neither of them ever fell for it.

They were only one sentence into the conversation and Savage had already shown he was underestimating both of them. ‘Good.’ Len’s mood evened out slightly as he pushed everything the monster in front of him was triggering in him aside so he could focus on what he and Mick were here for.

“How about we skip the small talk and get down to the real reason we’re all here.”

Len laid on his coldest, most snarly, sarcastic Captain Cold drawl in the hopes of establishing that A. he was no one to be trifled with; B. he was an extremely patient man but not when it came to this kind of bullshit; and C. however big and nasty a villainous motherfucker Savage imagined himself to be, Len was not about to be intimidated and wouldn’t stand for any slagging off of his crew members, let alone his best friend.

Savage’s eyebrows lifted and the rest of his face followed along until it was creased up into the most evil, maniacal grin Len had ever seen which, considering his upbringing, was really saying something.

“I see. All the rumours are true then.” Savage let out a disturbing kind of chuckle. 

“Very well. You wanted to meet me before deciding what, if any, role you want to play in my rather extensive and lucrative business network.” Savage started to walk slowly to one side with his hands clasped behind his back. 

Len and Mick made sure to remain facing their mark at all times. Len knew Mick was keeping an eye on the whole warehouse and watching his back but he didn’t want to let his own guard down for one nano-second with this psycho. 

Really, it had only been a few minutes but Savage’s presence was already causing Len to feel like he’d have to bathe for at least a week to be rid of the man’s repulsive miasma.

Savage stopped walking and turned to face Len and Mick again. “I assume…you have some questions for me?” That smug, self-satisfied grin was still on the asswipe’s face. Len quelled the urge to let loose and just punch it right off of him.

Instead, Len just played it cool and acted like he was genuinely interested in this increasingly irritating conversation. 

“A few. But before I get involved in _anything_ I’ll need to know the full extent of your operations. And I do mean the _full_ extent of them. Believe me when I tell you I won’t appreciate any surprises _after_ getting involved.”

Savage’s grin fell and he suddenly looked serious. “Ah. I was under the impression you’d been briefed already by my Central City deputy.”

Bancroft stepped forward at that point and glanced, somewhat nervously, between Len and Savage.

“Oh, Bancroft here’s given me an outline but I need you to colour in the details.” Len stepped forward himself so he was slightly closer to Savage, as distasteful as that location was. He was laying on the chilly Captain Cold attitude as thick as ever and hoped it would convey what he was aiming for, which was for everyone in the room to believe he was just as dangerous, greedy, impatient and self-interested as Savage.

Len looked around the room as if he was only mildly interested in what was going on and then continued. “I don’t take anything on faith when it comes to throwing in with other crooks. Let’s just say I’ve had plenty of experience working with fuck-up _losers_ and I have no intention of risking my neck for anyone. You either convince me you’re the real deal, you know your ass from your nose and you’re worth getting involved with, or my friend here and I walk.”

At that Mick grunted, clearly in support of his partner in crime.

Savage narrowed his eyes as he considered both Len and Mick. After a few moments, his thoroughly unattractive grin resurfaced and he chuckled more deeply than before; in fact, the sound he made almost verged on a cackle.

“I like you Mr. Snart.” Savage pointed an index finger at him with a triumphant gleam in his eyes and then stepped closer to Len. “You’re exactly the kind of man I’m looking for to expand my dealings in this part of the country. I don’t have time to get into any specifics here and now but I think you’ll find this helpful in making your decision.”

From inside his jacket, Savage produced a USB key and held it out to Len, who let his eyes drop to it, peering at it sceptically. 

“Go on, take it. It’s encrypted, of course. You’ll be able to access all the information on it from any secure, password-protected personal computer exactly one time and, after that, everything saved on it will be automatically deleted. So, I suggest you read it all very carefully the first time.”

Len took the key but had trouble believing Savage would entrust any incriminating information in writing to anyone, even a supposed unrepentant criminal, at this early stage. The plan had been for him to get Savage on record actually saying something to implicate himself in at least some of his more serious crimes. 

Still, Savage was here, armed to the teeth, meeting with two known criminals and talking freely about going into business with them…maybe all that and whatever was on this key would be enough for law enforcement to proceed with charges. Would it be enough for his team’s ultimate goals though, in terms of bringing down Savage’s whole global empire?

Just as Len was weighing his concerns that he wasn’t pushing far enough, or was perhaps being played, against his relief at the thought of imminently getting away from this evil man’s unnerving and annoying presence, Savage turned his head and commanded one of his thugs to do something. Len half heard the words but couldn’t quite catch the full meaning. It sounded kind of like…’mumble, mumble, bring her out now’.

As Len was registering alarm at what that might possibly mean, his worst fears were eclipsed by the horrifying sight of the thug Savage had given the order to re-emerging from behind one of the SUVs, having retrieved a very young, extremely scared girl (couldn’t be more than 12 or 13, if that) out of the trunk. He pulled her along roughly by her arm, then forced her down on her knees beside Savage. 

Her head was hanging forward, toward the ground, but Savage himself took hold of her hair and yanked her head back so that her tear stained face was all too suddenly pulled up and forced to look straight at Len. She let out something halfway between a yelp and a sob and, at that moment, Len had to employ every ounce of willpower he’d ever possessed not to go completely berserk and freeze every last worthless one of Savage’s creep squad right there and then, starting with their sociopathic ringleader who was once again grinning like a thoroughly demented, unhinged idiot.

And through the maniacal grin, the monster spoke. 

“Well…now that we’ve gotten that little bit of business over with, it’s time for you to prove to _me_ that you have what it takes to be part of _my_ group.” Savage looked imperiously down at the young girl, who was now trembling uncontrollably. 

Savage’s face held a look of satisfaction, as if the terror the girl was experiencing proved he was some powerful, god-like being instead of just an overly well-resourced, sadistic predator on a massive power trip, brutalising someone less than half his size and a fraction of his strength.

It was subtle, but Len perceived an angry intake of breath just behind and to the side of him. He knew without looking that Mick’s face wasn’t betraying anything, but he could tell his partner was ready to burst with fury and disgust, his urge to purge the world of the evil menace before them through flames simmering and threatening to boil over, just beneath the surface of his skin.

Len could certainly relate, minus the thirst for flames.

The young girl was outright sobbing now, which was a totally logical reaction given the circumstances. Len saw at once that she looked nothing like Lisa physically, and yet she looked almost exactly like his most nightmare inducing memories of her emotionally. 

All those times their father had been at his angriest, his most irrational, his meanest and his cruellest had rained down similar traumas on a pre-teen Lisa. All those times Len couldn’t deflect, argue or distract his father fast or well enough to save her from horrors that could never be fully forgotten or healed.

Whatever else happened, Len knew he had no choice but to act…and act fast.

He inwardly apologised to the girl while letting his face curl up into the cruellest sneering smirk he could muster. It took all of his strength and resolve to speak, taking special care to project and enunciate fully.

“ _Don’t mind if I do_.”

Savage’s own smirk widened for the single moment he was allowed before all hell broke loose.

First, the girl was suddenly gone in a whir of red and yellow, accompanied by a familiar and refreshing (yes, Len could admit it) gust of wind. 

Len took a beat to enjoy the stunned and then enraged look on Savage’s face before quick drawing his cold gun and coating the fiend point blank in solid ice, his signature weapon calibrated, begrudgingly, to one of its less fatal settings. As unsatisfying as it was, they needed the asshole alive to maximise the chances of saving as many people as possible and getting some kind of justice for them.

After that, Len and Mick were standing back to back within seconds, ready to defend themselves and each other against the startled but still deadly thugs all around them, though it wasn’t long before some of those were being taken down by Wally. Barry was back too within moments, likewise zipping around the warehouse knocking down criminals, cuffing them to random pieces of wood and metal and disassembling their guns.

“Can I burn some stuff now?” Mick practically yelled the words, as if he’d been holding them back ever since they’d set foot in this rotten warehouse for this stupid meeting, which of course he had been.

“I wish you would.” Len let his disdain for the now apoplectic but still frozen Savage-sicle before him drip through every word. 

As Mick turned away Len caught his arm. “Just watch out for our crew…some of them are,” he paused as both Barry and Wally zipped by them on opposite sides going in opposite directions. “…all over the place.”

“Right.” Mick didn’t need any more guidance before he let loose his heat gun, cutting off the escape route of some of the thugs who were trying to run out the now opening warehouse door.

The flames may not have been altogether necessary it turned out, as Len could discern through them that Joe West and Captain Singh were already leading the SWAT team they’d assembled forward toward the door from outside the warehouse, ready to apprehend any wayward thugs that attempted to break through the perimeter they’d set up around the entire area. 

Once the code words were uttered by Len and before entering the warehouse, Wally had obviously succeeded in assembling everyone there within a few seconds before Savage’s guards outside the warehouse had time to react, let alone warn anyone inside.

Beyond them, Len could just make out the swarm of reporters from around the world that Iris and Harry had contacted over the last few weeks and Wally had flashed to the scene from far and wide when the right moment came, assembling them all at a safe distance just behind the wall of police.

Still, Len wouldn’t dream of reining Mick in at this juncture. He knew his partner too well. This whole episode had been triggering for both of them and Mick needed the beauty of the fire to quell the turmoil that was surely roiling around inside of him right now.

Len wasn’t any less keyed up. He blasted ice wherever a thug was still moving, mostly aiming to incapacitate them by freezing them to the floor and knocking any remaining weapons from their hands. 

He looked around the warehouse and noted with satisfaction that most of the thugs had either been neutralised by Barry and Wally, caught by members of the SWAT team or incapacitated due to smoke inhalation or his own frosty form of glue.

Len allowed himself a smirk as he savoured the look of wild rage on Savage’s face as the tyrant continued to struggle within the frozen prison Len had sentenced him to, yelling increasingly outrageous threats about how, ‘no one crosses Vandal Savage and lives to tell about it’ and ‘you are dead, everyone you love is dead, you are nothing…’ and so on and so forth.

Everything was unfolding exactly as they’d planned and going even more smoothly than they’d ever dared to hope it would. Something was scratching at the back of Len’s mind though, and just as he realised what it was an all too familiar voice rang out through the din and commotion and Len spun around, only to inhale sharply.

There was the man Len had just been wondering about. Bancroft stood a few metres away, white knuckled, clutching a gun and holding it flush to the side of Rowan’s head.

“Everyone _freeze_ …or Amber here gets it!”

~

“ _Don’t mind if I do_.”

At Len’s magic words Rowan whispered urgently into the comms.

“Barry! Wally! Now!”

Rowan was no longer perched up in the rafters of the decrepit building but had silently crept down toward ground level as Len conversed with Savage. Now she was standing at the top of a metal staircase that led down from a catwalk to the ground floor.

She’d counted twenty-four goons in total who’d accompanied Savage into the warehouse and, of those, eight had fanned out around the building, away from where the rest remained concentrated around Savage.

As she stole carefully down the stairs, she psyched herself up to be ready to face any number or combination of those goons, although four of them had deployed to the other side of the warehouse so she was unlikely to meet up with them.

Savage’s move to try and get Len to ‘prove himself’ by somehow brutalising an already terrified young girl had at first horrified and sickened Rowan. It had definitely thrown her off for a few moments but as soon as Len had voiced their agreed upon code words for when to bring in Barry and Wally and the girl was safely away, she had regained her focus along with an even steelier resolve. 

She was now in full on covert agent mode.

It didn’t take long for her to come across the first of Savage’s thugs. Though some were still making a stand close to where their ringleader remained frozen to the ground, others were running off in all directions, looking for any way to escape the quickly closing trap she and Len had laid for them. Little did they know they were _very_ unlikely to get away even if they made it out of the warehouse.

Singh had coordinated with his Keystone counterpart and there was a formidable joint SWAT team outside, with officers arranged in a tight circle all around the building. Anyone who made it out would be easily apprehended.

The scattering thugs didn’t know that yet, however, so they fought with desperation in the hopes of saving their sorry hides. 

Rowan engaged with one, then another, then four at once, of the fearful and thus very angry men. Inwardly, she was grateful she’d had so much time to train in the past few years due to their mission having been moving at such a slow pace. She needed every ounce of strength, skill, agility and pure chutzpah to first defend herself and then disarm and immobilise the all too gun happy goons.

One in particular put up an impressive fight. He clearly had more advanced martial arts training than the rest so Rowan had to draw on all her knowledge and creativity to finally take him down. 

The thug landed a few decent hits and even a somewhat sloppy kick to Rowan’s side but in the end she floored him with a surprise double leg jump reverse crescent kick. She allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction as she looked down at the unconscious goon sprawled out cold on the ground because she’d never in a million years thought she’d actually manage to pull that move off in a real world fight situation.

With all the thugs in her sights dealt with, Rowan began moving carefully though quickly toward the middle of the warehouse where the rest of her team seemed to have just about finished subduing their quarry.

An ominous but familiar ‘click’ sound right by her ear stopped her in her tracks. 

She recognised it was Bancroft out of the corner of her eye. He reeked of adrenaline and fear, grabbing hold of her arm and roughly twisting it around her back while firmly holding the unlocked gun flush with her temple. 

Rowan was gripped with a profound disappointment in herself for having allowed this second rate thug to somehow get the drop on her after achieving such an exhilarating take down just moments before but she didn’t have much time to dwell on such thoughts as he pushed her out toward the centre of the warehouse.

“Everyone _freeze_ …or Amber here gets it!”

Rowan would have laughed at Bancroft’s oblivious use of her one-time alias if the situation hadn’t been so dire. They were now in full view of everyone left in the warehouse. 

Just as she located Len and Mick, Len’s eyes shot up at the sound of Bancroft’s voice and instantly met hers. His expression filled with horror for a moment before he immediately cleansed all emotions from his expression and glared at Bancroft with cold intensity.

“It’s over Bancroft. Do yourself a favour and cooperate. Don’t pile on any more reasons for law enforcement to…”

“Shut up!” Bancroft’s voice was panicked and desperate, which did not bode well for Rowan, considering how his gun was boring into the side of her head with greater and greater force and how easily it could all be over for her if he lost whatever was left of his composure.

Len continued to regard Bancroft coldly but Rowan could sense his concern for her when he flicked his eyes to meet hers again for a moment, even as he managed not to betray it. Behind him Mick looked grave.

“Now this is what’s gonna happen!” Bancroft snapped, clearly attempting to sound like he was in control of the situation. “All your friends in blue out there are going to stand down and Amber and I are going to just get in a car and drive away.” He motioned with his head at one of the SUVs still parked in the warehouse. 

Rowan could just see Barry and Wally out of the corner of her eye. They both looked poised to zip in to rescue her if there was any chance of doing so safely. Bancroft was not about to let the gun he had at her temple falter though so that outcome was clearly not in the cards.

In contrast to the intensity of emotions she’d been experiencing over the last half hour, Rowan suddenly felt a wave of calm wash over her. She kept her eyes on Len, hoping he would see something in her own that would convey all she felt for him, in case this would be the last time they saw each other. 

She was so proud of him for how amazing he’d been, helping her pull all this off and playing _the_ key role in taking Savage down. If this was how she was going to go out, she could be at peace with it. They’d gotten Savage, now a frozen footnote in the story it seemed, even as he grinned evilly at her current predicament and provided snide commentary, though no one was really listening.

Still, she’d been so looking forward to the possibility of being with Len after all this was over…of having a chance to enjoy what they’d found together. Well, that was life sometimes wasn’t it?

Bancroft was backing up toward the SUV that was closest to the warehouse door. He pulled Rowan along and her training told her irrefutably it would be unwise to try and break free of him even in motion. Just one tiny movement of his finger could end her life…and she did so want to keep living as she stared sadly at Len’s increasingly agitated face.

Then, puzzlingly, Rowan heard a loud thump close to her and suddenly the pressure of the gun muzzle at her head disappeared, followed by the release of her arm and another thump and a clatter, as well as a sound slightly reminiscent of Leonard’s cold gun humming but also different. 

Rowan let out a shaky breath as she hesitantly turned toward the source of the strange series of sounds to find herself face to face with a very satisfied looking Lisa Snart.

She winked at Rowan and called over to her brother. “You can relax Lenny. I’ve just saved your girlfriend’s life. You’re welcome!” 

Lisa’s smug smirk grew wider as Len rushed over and tentatively grabbed one of Rowan’s hands, as if he needed to touch her to know she was truly all right but couldn’t manage more than that with so many eyes currently riveted on them.

“You okay Ro?” Len’s face was still creased with concern and his voice was downright hoarse.

“Yeah, I’m okay…thanks to your sister.” Rowan smiled weakly but genuinely at both Len and Lisa.

“We can discuss what you owe me once we’ve got this mess all cleaned up. Don’t worry brother dear…I have _plenty_ of ideas.” Lisa patted Len on the arm, a fiery glint of mischief in her eyes.

Mick, Barry and Wally were now also gathered around Rowan, likewise eager to make sure she was all right. She was definitely deeply shaken, but otherwise physically fine.

Lisa looked down at Bancroft’s unconscious body and huffed. “I would have preferred to outright just shoot him but Lenny said we had to keep as many alive as possible so he’ll just wake up with a really bad headache.” She hefted her gun back against her shoulder in a movement so completely reminiscent of her brother it was jarring, her eyes sparkling with pride. 

“Good thing this little toy is multipurpose.” She winked at Rowan again and whispered “You’re welcome too,” before kissing her on the cheek and sauntering off out of the warehouse to where pandemonium was erupting in the parking lot.

All the reporters that Iris and Harry had contacted over the last few weeks with promises of a massive scoop were now clambering to get closer to the scene of the crime, which members of Singh’s SWAT team were currently securing. Thankfully the rain had stopped so that helped with visibility and made everything a little less complicated.

Based on Iris and Harry’s substantial powers of persuasion, the reporters present had agreed to let themselves be whisked off to Keystone at a moment’s notice by either the Flash or Kid Flash, in many cases being brought thousands of kilometres with only a vague idea of where they’d be going and what they’d be witnessing. Now they were all determined to make the most of this unprecedented opportunity.

As Lisa exited the warehouse the blinding flashes of copious cameras greeted her and she blew a kiss to the eager throngs, while happily ignoring their flurries of yelled questions. There’d be plenty of time for interviews later.

Harry and Iris had also been flashed to the scene so they could help wrangle their contacts and make sure no one made any premature moves that could get someone killed. The two were currently trying to convince the reporters and their camera crews that they’d have plenty of access to key players shortly, once the scene had been completely secured.

The following few hours were bananas, for lack of a more scientific term. Once the scene was secure, Singh gave the green light for the reporters and their camera crews to set up and film Savage and his goons being led away in handcuffs to waiting police cruisers.

The entire exchange between Len and Savage in the warehouse, as well as the ensuing battle, had not only been broadcast to the Star Labs van but had been recorded and was now being streamed on news media channels all over the world with the chosen reporters adding live updates, commentary and context.

In contrast to his earlier outbursts, the villainous criminal ringleader and erstwhile Senator Savage had finally regained some control of himself and said little as his still frozen form was wheeled away by a cop using a dolly, save that there had been an ‘enormous misunderstanding that would be clarified in time’.

Probably a smart move, but it would hopefully not help him in the end. His words and deeds in the warehouse were more damning than anything Rowan and Len had ever imagined getting on tape.

As the hours went by, various parts of the team were able to slowly check in with one another and offer congratulations, though it was clear they were all still in the early stages of absorbing the reality that they had actually been successful and achieved their ultimate goal at long, long last.

Cisco confirmed that Caitlin had treated the young girl who Barry had dropped off at the Star Labs van for some minor injuries but mostly for shock and trauma. Caitlin had taken her to the smallest of Central City’s hospitals where she knew the members of the Sexual Violence Trauma team well. The girl, whose name was Ella, had asked Caitlin to stay with her, so Cisco reported that Caitlin would be at the hospital throughout the night.

Barry had flashed Kendra to the scene after dropping Ella off so she was indeed present when Savage was rolled away. Anyone paying attention would have seen the single tear falling down her cheek and the sad but righteous glow of satisfaction in her eyes. Len felt an unusual but intense sense of justice having been served while observing the quiet scene from a distance.

As the night wore on, news started to trickle in from around the country that other high profile politicians, business leaders and known criminals were being arrested or held for questioning. All the agents from Rowan’s network who’d been in on the plan had been busy working their own local missions over the previous few weeks, getting ready to take down more cogs in Savage’s machine while feigning business as usual for the benefit of their traitorous mole.

Both traditional and social media were in a frenzy trying to keep up with each new development and, within an hour of Savage being subdued, it seemed as though almost nothing else was being talked about just about anywhere in the world. The totally unorthodox and audacious way he’d been brought to justice by a surprising mix of heroes, seemingly erstwhile villains and law enforcement was as big a story as the fall of the powerful but now disgraced Senator himself.

To cap the evening off, word came from Rip, Gideon and Stein around 2:00 in the morning that they’d succeeded in springing the trap they’d laid for their network’s mole, based on further analysis of Gideon’s algorithms. They were obviously shaken to report that some of their closest colleagues, Senior Agents Druce and Declan were the ones who had betrayed them all and had almost gotten Linney killed. 

A brief communication from Rip on the team’s secure server noted that the two of them were now in custody and the evidence against them was solid. 

Rowan was very disturbed by that news but also felt relieved. It was getting late and fatigue was setting in for everyone. Len checked in with Joe who’d been aiding Captain Singh in managing the crime scene the whole night. He gave them all leave to quit the scene with instructions on when to show up at the CCPD’s downtown precinct the next morning, which would be used as ground zero for all the various law enforcement agencies’ follow up operations.

With that Len and Rowan said goodbye to everyone who was still around and made their way back to Len’s place in the country, which was relatively close to Keystone. They were both so tired and drained they said little and fell into bed almost as soon as they arrived. They drifted off to sleep wrapped in each other’s arms. 

In spite of their exhaustion and how tightly they were both holding on to each other, one slept much more soundly than the other.


	12. Long Dark Morning of the Soul

Len sat on the smooth, relatively flat surface of a rock in the woods behind his house and peered up through the bare branches of the surrounding trees, most of which had already lost the majority of their leaves in anticipation of the coming winter.

He and Rowan had made it home only a few hours earlier, both collapsing into his bed, thoroughly exhausted. Len had not slept well, however, and had woken just before dawn, unable to settle down again in spite of his extreme fatigue.

He should feel elated. They’d done it after all. Their bold, audacious plan had worked and the monster Savage was finally on his way to prison where he belonged, his crimes broadcast for all to see, his carefully crafted faux reputation in tatters. 

From Len’s point of view, it was one of the most successful heists of his career. He’d formulated the right plan, put together the right crew and they’d all executed the plan brilliantly, sneaking up on Savage unawares, stealing his impunity.

After coming down off of the incredible adrenaline rush of pulling off such a daring exploit and all the risk and danger that it had entailed, Len was left with a definite sense of satisfaction at how well everything had turned out.

And yet…he just couldn’t shake the feeling of dread growing inside of him that defied all logic yet refused to release its grip on him no matter how much he tried to will it away.

He’d snuck out of his bedroom just after 6 am, while it was still dark, careful not to wake the sleeping form nestled beside him. He could just discern the outlines of Rowan’s face peeking out from under the covers that she had wrapped tightly around herself against the coolness of the late autumn verging on early winter air.

As Len sat and contemplated the barren trees and the overall lack of birdsong, he attempted to pinpoint the source of his unease. 

Maybe a small part of him feared their win had been too easy, too clean, in spite of all the long hours of preparation and coordination that they’d all put in to make it happen. Another part of him feared a slime ball like Savage might be able to slip out of anything, no matter how much evidence was stacked against him.

The more Len reflected though, the more he knew that wasn’t it. Savage’s take down had been far too public and too international for him to slither out of, no matter how many moneyed creeps he had in his pocket. Those who hadn’t already fallen with him were likely, even as Len sat there, shredding, burning and deleting anything and everything that could possibly link them to the falling demon.

No…the more Len thought about it the more he forced himself to face what was truly bothering him. He stared out at the slowly lightening sky foreshadowing the breaking dawn and took a deep breath, letting it out in a soft sigh only he was present to hear.

He couldn’t escape the truth any longer. In that moment he finally admitted something to himself he’d been avoiding finding words for in his mind for months now.

He’d fallen in love with Rowan. Wholly, thoroughly, irrevocably. 

Which might be fine if he had any recent experience with such a thing…or any positive experiences with it either.

But loving anyone other than Lisa and arguably Mick had only ever led to heartbreak for him and Len didn’t know if he could survive that kind of all encompassing pain and anguish at this point in his life, especially considering how far he’d fallen this time. He was in too deep and was only figuring that out long after it was too late.

Upon reflection, he realised it was that moment the night before when he’d seen her with a gun to her head, unable to escape from Bancroft’s grasp, that he’d realised in his heart that he loved her. It had just taken his head some time to catch up. 

It had also been the moment he realised he didn’t deserve her. 

For the interminable minutes Bancroft had held the gun to Rowan’s head, Len had felt locked in a state of suspended terror. He hadn’t felt so helpless to prevent catastrophe since he and Lisa were living with their father. 

When Lisa had silently but confidently crept up behind Bancroft and coolly knocked him out of commission, Len had been flooded with both intense relief and immense pride at how amazing a woman his little sister had become. At first he’d felt like all would be well…but as the night wore on, Len felt more and more ill at ease and insecure.

While they had met and planned and joked and fucked, it had all seemed like a reasonably safe holding pattern. There was a high stakes and very urgent goal they were both committed to that constantly kept them looking outward and away from focusing too much on themselves or whatever they were doing with each other…whatever their relationship was turning into.

Now that was all over; goal achieved, problem solved, danger averted, bad guy caught, good guys free to go their merry ways. Len decided to shelve the whole ‘how did I get on the so called ‘good guys’ side again?’ question for the time being so he could focus on one existential crisis at a time.

He sighed once again but this time more softly. Why was this so hard? Why did he suddenly feel so fearful that everything good between Rowan and him would suddenly evaporate just because they wouldn’t be working on the whole ‘take down Savage’ plot from now on?

That’s what this all came down to. Len realised he was just plain scared that Rowan wouldn’t need him for anything anymore, now that Savage was out of commission, so what would stop her from moving on from him? Maybe even moving on from Central City? 

It’s not like she really needed him in her life. She was a multi-talented, formidable, independent woman. He hadn’t even been the one to save her last night…when she’d needed him the most he had just stood there uselessly.

Neither of them had ever used the ‘L’ word. Rowan was every bit as circumspect as Len was in many ways and he had the impression she had never been liberal with such loaded sentiments.

What if she didn’t feel the same way? Sure they got along and enjoyed a lot of good times together. Could she ever actually… _love_ him though?

Len suddenly felt a cold, harsh pain creeping through every part of his body as he experienced a moment of crystal clear lucidity. He knew in that instant that of course Rowan couldn’t love him. The thought was patently absurd. 

He’d killed people, and not always out of desperation or true necessity either, if he was being totally honest with himself. It may have started out that way, but somewhere along the line he’d gotten reckless with other people’s lives and it didn’t matter that that was in his past now. He was not a good man and he never would be. No matter what else he did in his life to try to make amends for past mistakes, he could never fully wipe them away. Life didn’t work like that.

Len felt unfamiliar tears make wells of his eyes before he willed them to back off and wiped the wetness away, affixing a blank expression onto his face.

Just as the sun broke past the horizon and the promise of a brilliant late autumn day seemed to challenge his morose and defeatist musings, Len stood abruptly from the rock he’d been perched on and began striding purposefully back to the house.

Best to rip the bandage off as soon as possible to minimise the damage. 

He’d be as gentle as he could. It wasn’t Rowan’s fault after all that he’d lost focus and let this happen…let himself forget that love wasn’t something he was ever meant to have. He would cut her loose before she had to let him down easy. Give her an easy out rather than force her to be the one to make the tough decisions.

Considering everything Rowan had done for _him_ over the last year or so, it was the least he could do.

~

Rowan woke to find herself tightly ensconced in a very snug cocoon of blankets and covers, a sensation she relished as she slowly eased into consciousness. She opened her eyes and immediately registered that Len was nowhere to be seen. 

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and listened, trying to figure out if he was just in the bathroom or if he was maybe out in the living room for some reason.

Judging by the dim light filtering through the blinds, dawn was probably just breaking so it was still a little early for even Len to be up and about. She sat up in bed just as she heard the sliding door to the back of the house open and shut, Len’s familiar footsteps sounding softly until she faintly heard him taking off his boots and jacket.

After that it was only another few seconds before he soundlessly opened the door to the bedroom and stole inside, clearly attempting to be as quiet as possible, expecting her to still be asleep.

As his eyes lifted from the floor his gaze fell on her and she smiled, glad to see he hadn’t gone far. It hadn’t really hit her yet; the full impact of all they’d done last night. All they’d accomplished. Together. If that didn’t call for a celebration Rowan had no idea what would.

“Hey,” she said softly, sleepiness still evident in her voice. “I was wondering where you’d gotten to.”

“Hey,” he returned just as softly. “Just needed some air. I…didn’t really sleep well.”

Rowan’s brows furrowed. “Too wound up?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Len frowned.

“Come back to bed. Maybe I can help you relax?” 

Rowan couldn’t prevent the grin that spread across her features. She was so happy she could barely contain herself from jumping out of bed and right into Len’s arms.

They’d actually done it! They’d executed the most ambitious, downright badass plan her imagination could ever have dreamt up and they’d all lived to tell the tale without even incurring any serious injuries. 

And on top of all that, they were able to come home within a few hours of the take down, the bulk of interviews, paper work and whatever other follow up would be needed able to wait long enough for everyone who’d been directly involved in the operation to get some very well-earned rest.

Rowan took a moment to just appreciate still being alive, uninjured and thus able to enjoy their success. Coming face to face with her own mortality the night before had been humbling and draining but falling asleep in Len’s comforting embrace had gone a long way toward easing the lingering fear and anxiety that experience had left her with.

Rowan had no intention of letting such a rare and precious windfall go to waste. Finally she and Len could start exploring and enjoying their relationship without feeling like the weight of the world was relentlessly bearing down on them.

“I don’t think that would be such a good idea.”

“Oh.” Rowan’s excitement sank. “Len are you feeling okay. Are you sure you weren’t hurt last night?”

“I’m fine Ro.” Her mood sank more at the unexpected sharpness to Len’s tone. She lay back so that her head was propped up against the bedroom wall and considered Len’s distracted appearance, as he seemed to be looking everywhere but at her.

Rowan could sense something was seriously off and she determined to find out what it was as quickly as possible. She was disappointed Len wasn’t sharing in her moment of happiness but if he was dealing with something now because of his involvement in taking down Savage then she felt responsible for that.

“Len, I was...really hoping we could celebrate a bit together. Just the two of us before we, you know, have to jump back into the whole group debrief thing but…if something has come up for you…I just want you to know I’m here if you need me.”

She didn’t want to push but at the same time she could tell Len had retreated into himself. It was not necessarily unlike him in general but he’d never really done it with her, which probably explained why her worry was growing with each passing second.

For a moment it seemed as if Len was going to say something dismissive. He looked away with a closed off expression and Rowan braced herself to be rebuffed again.

But then he just sighed and slowly moved toward the bed, glancing at her before turning away and lowering himself down so that he was perched on the edge of the mattress. He just sat there for a few moments, then took a very deep breath.

“Look Ro. We made a good team. We got a bunch of hero types and assorted rogues to work together to take down your group’s big bad and we set the stage to free a lot of people who really need freeing. And…” Rowan noticed Len’s breathing was more laboured than usual and his voice was low, devoid of both his Captain Cold drawl but also of the warmth it usually held when he spoke to her.

“…we had a lot of fun, while we worked on this…project together. But let’s face it. We live in different worlds and…it’s probably time we go our separate ways.”

Rowan sat in stunned silence. Whatever suspicions she’d had as to what was bothering Len, she had not been prepared for anything like this.

“You’re dumping me?” Rowan’s voice sounded more like a wounded child’s than she’d expected it to but, considering the lump that was forming in her throat and the dull ache coalescing in the vicinity of her stomach, she couldn’t really fault herself.

Len whipped his head around to finally look Rowan in the eyes and the expression she saw on his face was one of unfiltered pain.

“No! I’m not dumping you. I’m just…trying to be realistic.” His eyes searched hers briefly, then flicked down and away again.

Len breathed in and out heavily, as if inhaling and exhaling was a bigger challenge at that moment than taking down Savage had been the night before. 

Rowan waited for Len to continue, unable to think of anything to say and not really wanting to speak anyway. She felt tears starting to form in her eyes and her mind swam as much as her vision was starting to.

Finally Len broke his momentary silence.

“You’re free now Ro. You were stuck in a virtually impossible situation for so long…working under really unideal conditions. You were lonely. You did things you felt you had to that weren’t necessarily always healthy. Now you’re free of all that. You can choose what you want to do with the rest of your life and…” Len exhaled again heavily. “…you can do whatever you want, wherever you want…with whoever you want.”

Len slowly turned to face Rowan as if part of him was fighting the movement while another part of him was forcing himself into it. He met her gaze again and Rowan started to finally piece together what might be happening. His eyes looked sadder than she had ever seen them.

“I don’t want you to hesitate to do what you want just to spare my feelings. I can handle…”

“I love you Len. Why the hell would I want to go anywhere unless you were going with me?”

Rowan was once again surprised by the sound of her own voice but this time it was because her words had come out far more exasperated than she’d intended, even a touch angry.

For a moment she thought she might have just pushed Len over the edge of whatever inner turmoil he was working through. 

His expression had frozen the moment she’d said ‘I love you’ and had quickly morphed into something akin to horror but not quite that. It was more like the kind of startled shock a person might feel at the realisation that the ball they’d just tossed to their best buddy was actually a grenade.

Needless to say, the alarmed look on Len’s face worried her. 

Still, Rowan’s emotions had gone through way too many twists and turns in the past few minutes for so early in the morning and so soon after the intense and stressful events of the previous evening so she wasn’t in the most patient of moods. She decided to plough forward and take control of the conversation so she’d at least get to say her piece before Len did something even more out of left field than dump her like, say, kicking her out of his home.

“Look Len, I’m not sure what’s going on with you this morning but if you want to dump me right after we just kicked the ass of one of the most genuinely evil pieces of shit I’ve ever had the displeasure to know about, that’s obviously your prerogative. But don’t you dare try and make it about doing me a favour.” 

Len’s expression evened out slightly, becoming less alarmed and marginally more thoughtful. Rowan took a breath, then continued, still meeting Len’s conflicted eyes.

“I thought we had something more than just working together and sleeping together and I was looking forward to actually being able to enjoy it more once we were finally done with Savage. If you don’t want that that’s…really disappointing to me but there’s nothing I want more right now. And I know I never said it before but I fell head over heels for you quite a while ago and I guess I thought…even though you didn’t say it either…I thought you might feel the same.”

Rowan’s righteous anger was already petering out and giving way to quivers in her voice and her eyes were filling with tears again, more than had been there before. She was just about to flee Len’s bed and run to the bathroom when Len caught her hands in his and visibly swallowed.

“I love you too Rowan.” 

His voice was so soft she might have missed his meaning if his diction wasn’t always so perfect. His hands held hers firmly, like he was somehow holding on for dear life.

“You do?” Rowan swallowed, feeling confused again but also hopeful as she wiped at a tear that had started careening down her cheek. 

“I’m sorry Ro.” Len’s voice was low and a touch gravelly. He sighed, looking down at the bed, then lifted his eyes to meet hers. “I’ve messed everything up. I can’t even explain it. I guess I just…got scared. Please don’t leave.”

Rowan sat in stillness for a moment, intense relief flooding her. She then let go one of her hands from Len’s so that she could grab a Kleenex from the bedside table to wipe her eyes and blow her nose. She let the Kleenex fall into the compost bin by the bed, re-linked her hand to Len’s and then collapsed back onto a pillow, pulling Len’s hands forward towards her chest as she did so.

She regarded him for a moment, then smiled up at him. He was looking very serious, like a child who’d just admitted to breaking the cookie jar while trying to steal all the cookies.

“Well…” she exhaled deeply. “I’m glad we got that all worked out.” 

Rowan let a small laugh escape her and Len’s expression softened. Rowan clasped Len’s hands even closer to her chest, seeming to contemplate them while tracing his knuckles with her fingers. 

She looked back up at him. “I really wasn’t looking forward to getting up yet. It’s way too early and I’m way too comfortable in here.”

Len sighed and looked down at the bed, his hands still holding Rowan’s but more gently now.

“Join me now?” Rowan’s voice was soft but full of longing.

Len gave a quick nod and disengaged his hands so he could pull the shirt he was wearing over his head before sliding under the covers beside her. She enclosed her arms around him and he encircled her with his.

“I’m sorry Rowan,” he said again. “I guess I just…freaked out a bit there.”

“It’s okay. As long as we get to stay like this for a while, it will still be a good day.”

“So…we’re really together now?” Len sounded so uncharacteristically unsure of himself, it saddened Rowan, but it was also endearing.

“Yes. We’re definitely together. I’m hoping for a long time. As long as you want anyway.”

“It will be a long time then.” Len nestled in closer to her and burrowed his face into her neck, settling comfortably between her jaw and her shoulder. He let out a long sigh.

If they could have read each other’s minds, they would have known they both shared the same thought…

‘Hopefully forever.’

~

Len was still feeling a bit odd, what with all that had transpired within the last 24 hours or so. 

They’d taken down Savage sure but, just as importantly, he’d figured out he loved Rowan, then only minutes later had almost lost her due to his own insecurities, found out she actually loved him back and then, after an all too brief celebration of that shared knowledge, they’d spent the better part of the entire day being interviewed by the FBI, CIA, Interpol and, last but not least, the CCPD. 

Len was surprised none of the agencies were more aggressive in their questioning, considering how far outside the box their methods had been. He figured Rip Hunter had probably smoothed over some of those rough edges already. Captain Singh may also have helped. It was hard to be sure but Len wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

The main local news channel was on at the precinct all day long and almost all of the reporting was still focusing on the incredible take down of the night before and the shocking fallout that just kept snowballing.

Incredibly, in addition to Savage, three other Senators, six Congressmen, two State Governors and dozens of local politicians, judges and prominent business people had already been arrested and more were being held for questioning. All four main investigating agencies held a joint press conference and announced they expected more arrests would be made in the coming days and weeks, both within the United States and in other parts of the world.

Len had turned the USB key Savage had given him the night before over to the FBI and their data analysts had found so much damning evidence on it justice was turning out to be swift for once.

Now that the moles had been identified and arrested, Rowan’s whole network was abuzz with activity as operatives fed years of intel to the FBI and other international law enforcement agencies to help ensure as many trafficked people were found and rescued from all manner of horrible situations as quickly as possible.

Many had been trafficked across international borders and had had their passports and any other documentation taken from them so, fearing the authorities in the unfamiliar countries they found themselves in, they had seen no way to get away from their abusers, some of them having been trapped for years.

The sheer scale of what was happening was hard for the media to keep up with but Len had to admit the local Central City outlets were doing a pretty good job of covering the story. Iris was, of course, in her element, networking with international colleagues, reporting on critical details, many of which she was singularly privy to having been directly involved in the take down, while also providing incisive analysis of the larger issues. 

For all those who had been directly involved in the take down within the warehouse the previous evening, a number of subsequent interviews and meetings were set up to take place over the next few days and weeks to cover off all that had happened in even more copious detail but, after a solid ten hours of questioning, Len and Rowan were finally free to go home again.

They stopped in at Rowan’s place to check on Snuggles for an hour or so. The happily purring feline was obviously being well cared for by one of Rowan’s neighbours so they decided to go back to Len’s place again to be sure to get a good night’s sleep, as they were both still exhausted. 

Snuggles was an awesome cat but did have a tendency, like so many of her kin, to wake well before dawn and extend the pleasure of being up at that hour to all available human companions.

It had taken most of the day for Len to truly accept that he hadn’t ruined things with Rowan and that she wasn’t mad at him for almost dumping her that morning just because he’d figured out he loved her. When he thought about it like that he did consider that counselling might be something to look into once things had settled down.

For now he’d slowly worked out a plan in his mind to try and make it all up to her when they got home. 

Home. He really did think of his house outside Central City as their home now. 

So as soon as they arrived he asked Rowan if she was hungry and, when she replied with gusto in the affirmative, he made her a quick but hearty meal to keep her occupied while he got everything else ready, claiming he just wanted to rest a bit before eating himself.

Len, being profoundly appreciative of the true value of luxuries due to his childhood of both physical and spiritual deprivation, thankfully had everything on hand that he needed to put his plan into action. If he’d messed up their shot at a proper celebration first thing that morning, he was determined to more than make up for it that evening.

His incredible penchant for organisation and efficiency served him well, and it took him only about half an hour to get everything perfectly in order. 

He surveyed his creation with a critical eye, looking for anything out of place or in need of adjustment. After a few slight improvements, he swept his appraising gaze one last time over all he’d arranged and concluded he was ready.

He moved softly through his bedroom and out into the living room, heading for the kitchen area where Rowan was still sitting, her head propped on one fist, appearing thoughtful as she nursed a glass of water.

She glanced up as Len entered the room and smiled. “Ready for something to eat?”

Len smiled back. “Yeah. I just want something small though.”

Len let the tips of his fingers trail along Rowan’s back as he passed her on the way to the fridge. He quickly made himself a sandwich and sat with Rowan while he ate, the two exchanging some light teasing but otherwise sitting in companionable silence.

Len wondered as he ate how Rowan was feeling about everything now that they were home again. Although she had reiterated a few times when he asked throughout the day that she was fine, he couldn’t help but worry she would have trouble trusting him for a while, after what he’d somewhat haplessly laid on her that morning.

Well, with any luck, his most recent efforts would ensure that wouldn’t turn out to be the case. As soon as he finished eating he announced rather dramatically to Rowan that he had a surprise for her, one that he was certain she would enjoy.

Rowan’s eyes lit up and her mouth formed a seductive smirk.

“Does this surprise involve chocolate by any chance?” Her tone was both excited and teasing as she watched Len reaching for a number of ingredients from his well-laden cupboards.

“Don’t all great surprises ultimately involve chocolate somewhere along the line?” 

Len turned back to Rowan who was still sitting perched on a stool at his kitchen island, facing him now with a fond smile on her face.

“Hmmm…a man after my own heart _and_ taste buds. See, I knew there was a reason I fell in love with you.”

“Just one?”

“One of many.”

Len’s eyes flashed and he fixed Rowan with an indulgent smirk that quickly morphed into a genuine smile as he turned back to his ingredients. He then set to work whipping up some truly delectable looking frozen hot chocolate which he served up in two large brandy glasses, topped with melted peppermint marshmallows and garnished with shredded dark chocolate.

Rowan watched him work with the customary awe she always felt at how quickly he could shape things and make them come together whenever he set his mind to something. 

She shook her head as she allowed herself a moment of intense satisfaction at having stumbled into falling for such a rare and precious person as Len. In spite of his troubled and challenging past he was, in many surprising ways, what Rowan guessed would be many people’s idea of the perfect man and the perfect mate.

He was an amazing cook and baker, an impeccable planner and an extremely attuned listener with razor-sharp observational skills that he put to excellent use in both intimate and non-intimate encounters. All this and so much more, wrapped up in an exceedingly pleasing package of undeniable physical beauty, charm and pulse affecting hotness.

Rowan sighed softly to herself as she watched him, feeling like a teenager crushing on the neighbourhood’s sexiest bad boy while starting to feel herself become intensely turned on at the thought that she had him all to herself…tonight and for hopefully many, many more nights to come.

‘Good thing that’s frozen hot chocolate he’s making,’ she mused to herself, suddenly feeling the need for something icy to cool her down.

Len finished with the garnishes and retrieved some long handled ice cream spoons from his cutlery drawer, putting one in each of the glasses. He then turned with the impressive drinks, one in each of his hands. He smirked playfully while sauntering up to Rowan, placing one of the drinks down in front of her, then gracefully lowering himself onto a stool beside her.

Rowan picked up her drink and inhaled the delectable scents of mingling chocolate and peppermint.

“You sure know how to please a woman.” Rowan’s smile was teasing but warm.

“You know I like to be the _best_ at everything I do.” Len raised his eyebrows and continued smirking.

Rowan held up her glass towards Len. “We should toast something. Like…maybe…a job well done?”

“Are we talking about taking down Savage or my superior beverage making skills?”

“How about both?”

“Hmmm…I’ll drink to that.” Len and Rowan clinked their glasses together and then dug into the luscious chocolate concoctions. 

Rowan took a few seconds to savour the delicious flavours and appreciate the sensations of the icy cold frozen chocolate mixed with the gooey peppermint flowing down her throat, relieving the heat she was feeling before and cooling her down in the most refreshing way.

“Oh Len, you’ve _really_ outdone yourself this time. This is like, the best thing I’ve ever tasted!”

Len smiled, always pleased with how much Rowan appreciated his culinary prowess. He looked down, then raised his eyes again, got up and leaned forward, gently cupping her cheek and kissing her softly.

“Best you’ve ever tasted, huh?” Len’s voice was low and husky. Rowan was once again thankful for the cold drink that was helping to balance out her temperature regulation.

“Hmmmhmmm…definitely the best.” Rowan stepped forward off her stool too and leaned closer to Len, kissing him back, softly at first, then more deeply.

After a few seconds, Len pulled back, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. 

“Come with me. Bring your drink.” 

With a mischievous gleam in his eyes, he took Rowan’s hand and picked up his own drink, leading her toward the bedroom. Rowan followed, sensing Len had something up his sleeve, secretly hoping whatever it was wouldn’t interfere with them finishing their drinks before they melted. 

When they reached the bedroom Len set his drink on the bedside table and told Rowan to wait a few minutes while he just took care of a few last details, before disappearing into the bathroom. By now, she was truly curious what he could possibly be up to.

True to his word, Len reappeared less than five minutes later and scooped up his drink again, holding out a hand to Rowan, then leading her into the bathroom.

The sight that greeted them left Rowan grasping for words, she was so floored by the grandness of it. 

Okay, so Len clearly hadn’t been ‘resting’ earlier after all. The sneak.

The entire bathroom was lit up with at least 30 candles, covering just about every flat and stable surface of the room. No other light was needed as they cast a warm, wavering glow throughout the whole room.

Len had drawn a bath that was clearly very hot, if the steam rising from it was anything to go by. They’d yet to use the sunken bathtub in the middle of the room and Rowan had started to wonder if Len ever used it. Apparently he reserved it for special occasions.

The bath was filled to bursting with aromatic bubbles and a few pots of fragrant flowers were arranged around the room, adding to the subtle fragrances. Rowan recognised the flowers as having been brought from other rooms in the house. How Len had managed to spirit them all here without her noticing she had no idea. He clearly was the stealthiest thief ever.

“You like?” Len regarded her with a smirk but Rowan knew him well enough by now to notice the ever so slight hesitation in his eyes.

“I love!” She was quick to assure him she was all in and totally impressed with his romantic and very enticing gesture.

Len smiled, clearly genuinely pleased at her response.

“Shall we?” Len took Rowan’s drink and set it down along with his own on a small tray he’d obviously placed by the bathtub for that purpose.

Rowan smiled in response and waited for Len to turn back and step up close to her. He tentatively trailed his hands up her sides and seemed to consider her sweater before slowly slipping his fingers under its hem and gently pulling it up over Rowan’s head.

As soon as it was off and tossed toward the shelves built into the wall, it was as if a dam burst and Len’s mouth was on Rowan’s as they both crashed together, lips and tongues frantic to unite with and explore each other as thoroughly and extensively as possible.

Rowan slipped her hands underneath Len’s sweater. He helped her get it off and it was flung to join Rowan’s, though it missed the shelf and dropped to the tiled floor. Neither noticed though, as they continued their frenzied escapades, more clothes finding their way to the general vicinity of the shelves until both Len and Rowan were totally naked.

They ceased their ardent kissing long enough to catch their breaths and Len carefully led Rowan down the stairs into the steaming bath. They both submerged up to their necks and arranged themselves side by side on the ledged seats that were part of the sunken bathtub’s design.

Rowan laughed in delight and then sighed. “Oh my god, Len this feels _so good_.”

Len nuzzled Rowan’s neck. “Is it hot enough for you? Or do you need me to _cool_ it down a bit?”

Rowan laughed again and kissed Len lightly on the cheek. He lifted his head and brought his lips to hers, the two sharing several minutes of passionate kissing and giggle inflected touching before parting again, smiles playing on both of their mouths.

Len reached for their drinks, handing Rowan’s to her while trying to avoid too many bubbles getting swept onto the bottoms of the glasses.

“We’d best finish these before they melt in the heat.” 

“Hmmm…good idea.” Rowan savoured a few scoops of the somewhat more-liquidy than-before chocolate, enjoying the flickering light of all the candles casting dancing shadows all around them.

“This really is perfect Len. I was starting to think you never used this bath.”

Len smirked. “Something tells me it’s about to start getting a lot more usage than it’s had in a long time.”

“I like the sound of that.” Rowan was nearing the end of her frozen chocolate and Len was almost finished his as well.

They both scraped out the last of it from their now empty glasses and Len put them back on the tray at the side of the tub, pushing it across the floor a little to keep the glasses well away from the edge.

Len moved to put his arm around Rowan’s shoulders and she shifted forward, then slid sideways until she was sitting between Len’s outstretched legs, the hot bubbly water adding to their sense of being encased in a comforting, watery cocoon. Rowan leaned back against Len’s chest and he tightened his arms around her. They stayed like that for a time, relaxing and saying little, just enjoying their closeness.

“I really do love you.” Len breathed softly in Rowan’s ear. He never thought he’d feel so comfortable saying those words to anyone. Now that they were together like this though, especially after the misfire of that morning, he wanted to take the opportunity and initiative to say it while they were both in the same peaceful state.

“I really love you too.” A smile rose up from inside Rowan and slowly spread over her features. Her voice then took on a note of slightly mocking scolding. “And don’t forget it either. No more letting whatever voices of insecurity exist in that head of yours mess with you about us. If you have any doubts about how I’m feeling at any point in the future please just ask me before you make any executive decisions?”

Rowan turned her head to try and catch Leonard’s gaze. His eyes flicked down to meet hers and a small, almost bashful smile graced his lips. He kissed the side of her forehead tenderly.

“Okay.” Len sounded almost like a child, earnest and contrite.

“Good.” Rowan’s smile grew and she leaned back against Len again, sinking down a little further underneath the hot water and bubbles. “This is so perfect. I wish we could stay here like this forever.”

Len breathed in and out and for a few moments they just relaxed together in silence. Then he spoke, softly but firmly.

“Move in with me? Then we can do this every night if we want…or every morning. Or both.”

Rowan turned her head again and stared up at Len. “Seriously?”

“When am I ever not serious Ro?” He smirked. “I know it’s a bit off the beaten track but we still both have places in the city. We can keep at least some of them.”

“What about Snuggles?” 

“Bring her out here.”

“Hm.”

“Is that a ‘let me think about it’ hm or a ‘not on your life’ hm?”

“It’s definitely a ‘let me think about it’ hm. I mean I love your place…and it does make sense for us to live together but, at the same time, I’m kind of attached to my little apartment and it’s the only home Snuggles and I have had together. If we move Snuggles it has to be for the long-term because cats get very attached to their environments. Snuggles doesn’t like travelling either so we’d have to plan the move carefully to minimise the stress for her.”

“Well that’s not a no.” 

Len was happy Rowan was at least open to the idea. He got what she meant about Snuggles though. He may not have ever had a cat but he’d read some articles about them and knew it wasn’t generally good to uproot them too much, unless maybe they were acclimatised to being moved around from a young age.

“No, it’s not a no.” Rowan turned her body slightly and snuggled further into Len’s chest, laying the side of her cheek against him. “Can we figure ourselves and our living arrangements out over the next few weeks?”

“Sounds good to me.” Len’s arm tightened around Rowan and he sighed. “As long as we’re together, I don’t really care where we live.”

“Me neither.” Rowan’s voice was getting sleepy.

Len kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. He had begun the day feeling so alone and profoundly sad. Now he felt more content and at peace than he could ever remember feeling. 

Len and Rowan stayed nestled together in the bath until the water had cooled enough to be verging on lukewarm. They shared a quick and _very_ steamy shower to wash the bubbles off and then tumbled into bed, both still exhausted from the previous few days’ events.

While they didn’t have the energy to do all they wanted to together before sleep overtook them, they made up for that in spades the next morning. Needless to say, it was a very different morning than the one before had been.


	13. Found and Lost

Len leaned against a convenient wall while nursing a beer and allowed his gaze to casually scan the room at Star Labs, wondering for the umpteenth time how he had somehow managed to become so comfortable here over the last few weeks.

Everyone who’d played a pivotal role in taking down Savage was present for the big celebratory party, along with some of their life partners too. 

Len hadn’t realised that Captain Singh was married and observed how much more relaxed the police captain seemed while socialising with his husband Rob at his side; so different than his usual somewhat stressed out, no nonsense demeanour.

The couple were currently conversing with Rip, Joe and Stein, while Barry, Jax and Nate were chatting animatedly about some obscure television show and whether or not its first season had been its best or its worst. 

Harry was looking on with an unreadable expression affixed to his face that could easily have indicated either bored indifference or a passionate conviction that season one of the show had been the best launch of an ensemble sci-fi adventure series ever…or anything in between. Len just could not read the man.

Meanwhile, Wally and Hartley were engaged in a very intense discussion about the merits of electric powered vs. internal combustion engines and what all the potential environmentally sustainable alternatives were to the former’s current reliance on lithium batteries. 

Len hadn’t had any idea Hartley was such a passionate environmentalist. ‘Well,’ he reflected, ‘you learn something new every day.’ That Wally kid was no slouch either. He clearly knew his stuff when it came to engine design.

Len chuckled quietly to himself as he glanced over at the bemused expression on his sister’s face as Rowan’s colleague Ray enthusiastically serenaded (or was it harangued?) her with some convoluted, nerdy anecdote as Ramon stood between them, eyeing Ray with a ‘you better not be trying to move in on my woman’ look on his face. 

Little did Cisco know he had nothing to worry about in that department. Lisa had developed a genuine affection for the somewhat geeky Flashling. Besides, Len suspected Ray had no romantic intentions toward his sister and was just being his usual rather puppy dog like self.

Len’s gaze came to rest on his partner Mick who was holding up another wall across the room and likewise eyeing the same threesome with a subtly amused expression animating his features. Now that he thought about it, Len realised Mick seemed to observe Ray with that look on his face whenever the boy scout was around. 

Before he could dwell on that realisation his attention was diverted by an eruption of laughter at the other side of the room.

All the women in the group, save Lisa, had converged at a table and were having a rather lively discussion punctuated by eruptions of care free laughter while drinks and snacks were eagerly consumed. Much to Rowan’s delight, her friend Linney had travelled to Central to join the party, some extra security precautions having been put in place for everyone’s safety. 

Now that Savage’s criminal network was in tatters, the danger had eased somewhat for Rowan and her colleagues, but they still had to take their security seriously. There were remnants of Savage’s associates still running free who might want to target the group that took him down at some point so safety would always be a concern.

Len wasn’t close enough to hear what the women were talking about but he enjoyed seeing everyone so happy. He’d noticed that Rowan tended to be relatively quiet in groups but even she seemed to be caught up in whatever they were finding so funny. It gave Len a warm feeling to see her looking so light and relaxed and enjoying the company of her female counterparts. 

Len had been thinking a lot over the last few days about where he and Rowan’s lives and relationship were heading. He’d reflected that in all the time they’d worked on their plan to take down Savage together, Rowan hadn’t really had much interaction with other people, save a few times when she’d helped out Team Flash.

Granted, that was partially because she had a full time job, and working out all the kinks in their plan had taken a huge investment of time and effort. They’d also stumbled into the whole enthusiastically sleeping together routine, which had been pretty all consuming for both of them over the last several months.

Still, Len had come to realise over time that Rowan, like himself, was a somewhat lonely person. He’d learned that she’d led a pretty solitary existence for most of her adult life and her job had only increased the pressures to keep it that way. He had secretly resolved to try and make sure she’d have more chances to socialise and enjoy life now that Savage was dealt with. 

This party was turning out to be a good start.

It was initially Ray’s idea but pretty much everyone had gone along with it, eager to take a break from the seemingly endless interviews and debrief meetings they’d all had to take part in over the last week and a half. On top of the ones demanded by law enforcement and intelligence agencies, the media has also been relentless in pursuing all the major players who’d been visible in the now infamous video footage that had been streamed online. 

The public’s appetite for interviews and commentary from the Flash, Kid Flash, Heatwave, Golden Glider and Captain Cold had been especially insatiable. Len had mixed feelings about all the attention he was receiving for this particular escapade. He couldn’t help but worry his bad guy persona might never recover. 

On the other hand though, it seemed to have eclipsed everyone’s interests in possibly re-arresting him for his father’s murder, so that was something. Len also enjoyed seeing his sister get some much-deserved adulation. He did feel Rowan had been largely overlooked as a somewhat obscure player in the eyes of the public but she assured him she was fine with that. She was a bit shy of the limelight Len had noticed.

Barry had immediately offered Star Labs as the venue for the party and everyone had pitched in with bringing food and drinks, as well as some goofy decorations. Ray had even brought noisemakers and seemed genuinely surprised and put out when he turned out to be the only one excited about them.

As Len finished his beer he noted that Amaya had broken away from the group of women and had struck up a low-key conversation with Mick. His partner seemed all too happy to chat with her, which helped Len relax even more. 

Mick had always been unpredictable so Len was simultaneously surprised and also not at how calmly his friend had gone along with the whole ‘teaming up with a bunch of heroes’ thing. 

At the very least Mick seemed to find most of the personalities in the room entertaining. Ray especially, it would seem. He definitely liked Amaya too though. They seemed to be developing some sort of rapport. That was unusually quick among the rogues…but especially for Mick.

Len’s eyes darted back to the table where all the women had been hanging out. He saw that the group had broken apart and Rowan was now chatting more seriously with Zari and Linney while Sara, Kendra, Iris and Caitlyn were having their own, still uproarious, conversation. Nora had somehow gotten roped into whatever nonsense Ray was now on about and Gideon had joined Rip’s group. 

‘No surprise there,’ Len thought to himself. Those two were definitely an item, though he sensed neither one of them may have admitted it to themselves yet, let alone anyone else. 

Len sighed in satisfaction. At least he wasn’t wasting any time where Rowan was concerned. 

Over the course of the next hour, Len waded into the mingling and managed to: ‘astonish’ Rip and Stein with his self-taught knowledge of theoretical physics; enjoy a fun conversation with Zari, whose dry, sarcastic wit matched his own; tease out an amusing conversation with Harry who Len realised, for all his aloofness, was actually just a bit shy of large groups; annoy the hell out of Barry by belabouring the fact that there had been a sharp spike in Captain Cold action figures flying off the shelves ever since their take down of Savage and they were now selling at twice the rate of Flash action figures (though Lisa pointed out that Golden Glider dolls were in the lead); and orchestrate an all out tease fest with Ray as the unfortunate but good natured recipient. 

Finally, Mick took pity on the wide-eyed boy scout and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Come on Haircut. We need more beer. You’re with me.” 

“Oh! Great! I mean if you need my help I’m more than happy to come along.”

Mick grunted and shot Len a pointed look as he left. Len watched the two men exit Star Labs with an eyebrow raised but a satisfied smirk on his lips. 

Eventually, Rowan wandered over to where Len was once again leaning against a wall and looked up at him with happy eyes and a wide smile. 

“Having fun?”

“Surprisingly yes. You have some very… _intriguing_ associates Ro.”

“I do, don’t I?”

“Sooo…how about you? You having a good time?”

“Yes, I am! I mean…I’ve been working with all these amazing people for so long but this is really the first time I’ve ever been able to just hang out with most of them and get to know them a bit. It’s been so awesome! And it’s so great to see Linney again!” 

“Well, now that Savage is out of the way maybe you can keep in touch more.”

“That’s what we were all saying. I think we will.”

Len was happy to see Rowan so excited and smiling so much. He’d gotten used to her typically reserved attitude and generally seeming at least somewhat stressed out beneath the surface. This new more carefree mode suited her well.

“Soooo, I’m guessing you wanna stick around a while longer, hmmm?”

“If you don’t mind I would. You okay with that?”

“Sure Ro…though I wouldn’t _mind_ slipping down the hall with you for a few minutes for a little…break from the audience.” Len’s voice had suddenly become low and husky.

Rowan tilted her head and smiled cockily. “I think that could be arranged.”

Len was halfway ready to straight up kiss Rowan right there in front of everyone when he noticed Sara sidling up to them with a downright wicked expression on her face. He straightened and raised his eyebrows at the enigmatic agent who he’d learned, in the short time he’d known her, had a tendency to be very direct.

“You two sure know how to bring the heat. So much for being Captain _Cold_.” Sara winked at both of them on that last word as if she knew all of Rowan and Len’s most intimate secrets.

Len schooled his expression to neutral, as he didn’t really know what to say to that. He was grateful Rowan just laughed at the comment and came up with a response so he didn’t have to.

“Let’s just say Len here knows exactly how to regulate the temperature in accordance with whatever the company and situation require.”

Sara’s wicked smirk deepened. She held Rowan’s gaze for a moment, then flicked her mischief filled eyes to Len while pulling a small card from her front pants pocket.

“Just in case you two ever feel like sharing any of your temperature regulating skills…”

She handed the card to Rowan, winked again at the two of them and sauntered off confidently with a sway in her hips, turning back once to mouth ‘Call me’ while holding one hand up to her ear and mouth like an old style telephone.

Rowan stood in stunned silence for a few moments while Len stared after the strikingly attractive agent in apparent shock and disbelief.

They turned to each other at the same moment and Rowan’s mouth dropped open, as if to speak. Len beat her to it though.

“Did your colleague just proposition us for a…” Len swallowed, as if feeling uncharacteristically uncertain. “…a _threesome_?”

Rowan exhaled while turning to look after Sara again, who was now on the other side of the room happily chatting with Barry and Jax as if nothing unusual had just happened.

“Yep. I’m pretty sure she did.” They both turned back to regard each other, Rowan’s face having become pensive. “Wow! I’m…I never would have thought she’d be interested.”

Len’s eyebrows quirked up. “Are you saying _you’d_ be interested?”

“Well…I’d never really thought about it seriously before. I’ve always been a pretty monogamous and mostly heterosexual kind of person and…you know I haven’t really been into much that was…casual.” Rowan looked to Sara again and back to Len. “Would you be interested?”

“I…don’t know. I’m also feeling pretty monogamous at this point and, just for the record, I don’t really want to share you with anyone. Sara is…pretty unique though.”

“That she is.” Rowan smiled suddenly and stuffed the card Sara had given her into her own pants pocket. “Let’s just hold onto this for now. I mean it’s not like there’s any pressure to make a hard and fast decision. How about we keep our options open?”

Len smiled too then, a very genuine one that suited him well. “I like the way you think Ro.” He leaned down and kissed her gently as he’d felt like doing just before Sara had come over to make her offer.

Moments later, the two left the room to find somewhere to be alone for a while. It was longer than they’d planned before they returned. Much longer.

~

Rowan sat on the couch with Snuggles curled up in her lap as she watched the snow silently falling outside through the sliding door that led to the back patio and beyond. Len was out with Mick in the city but would likely be home soon. Rowan smiled down at her precious kitty and sipped at the last of her hot apple cider.

The comfortable feline was mostly asleep, but every now and then when Rowan gently caressed her, Snuggles would make a soft trilling sound that never ceased to amuse her human companion. 

Typical of her kin, Snuggles had been wary at first when Rowan and Len had moved her out to what had genuinely come to feel like ‘their’ place in the country. She’d hidden under beds and in closets at first, but that had been a few months ago. The intrepid kitty had since become perfectly at home in the exciting, multi-level house that was much more spacious than Rowan’s apartment and was now outfitted with all manner of cat trees and other assorted kitty furniture and toys. 

Rowan had initially been totally stressed out at the thought of uprooting her feline friend from their cosy little apartment, but she reflected now that it had definitely turned out for the best. Snuggles wasn’t being left alone nearly as much anymore with Len around a fair bit of the time when Rowan was at work, and with Lisa and Mick dropping by now and then too.

Rowan was still working at the CCPD but only for a couple more weeks. She’d needed to wrap up all the various projects she’d been working on as part of her cover, for her own sense of satisfaction as well as for the sake of appearances. 

Everyone knew she’d been involved in the now infamous takedown of Vandal Savage but most of her CCPD colleagues thought it was only because Captain Singh had been pulled into the whole operation by the FBI and he’d in turn asked Rowan to be on scene. That was their cover story, at any rate.

Len kept pestering her, in a teasing way, about how much longer she was going to keep ‘putting in time at that wretched hive of scum and villainy before finally joining the rebellion, taking a real break and spending some serious quality time with your own personal Captain Cold.’

Rowan could only laugh and assure him she was almost finished tying up loose ends. Little did Len know, the most important of those was one that he had inadvertently tasked her with, and had then apparently all but forgotten about…or, at least, had never mentioned again.

She glanced over at the innocent looking folder she had placed on the end table, ready for whenever Len arrived home. It looked so innocuous…and yet it was anything but. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying her best to keep her substantial apprehension at bay. 

Rowan had vowed she would find out everything she could about what had happened to Len’s mother. Through careful examination of all the files she could get her hands on from the CCPD archives going back about 36 years, she had kept her promise to herself and to Len. 

In so doing she had exhausted every possible lead and record she had access to while still having clearance at the CCPD. In truth, that was the main reason she’d stayed on there so long.

Now the results of all her efforts were sitting neatly arranged in a generic blue folder, looking for all the world like it could be a high school student’s assignment or a collection of recipes clipped from the newspaper, rather than an explosive collection of evidence that would, without doubt, completely rock her lover’s world, should he choose to peer within.

They had decided that day that felt so long ago now, the day after their first intimate encounter, that Rowan would dig around the CCPD archives and see what she could find but that it would be up to Len whether he chose to access any of the information she uncovered.

Rowan suspected Len would not be able to resist finding out as much as he could if answers were finally within reach. At the same time, she couldn’t be sure he’d be ready for that right away, if ever. She knew it would be an intense conversation to navigate no matter what route Len immediately or ultimately chose.

Another thing she was certain of was that should Len decide to read the contents of the file she’d compiled, there would be no escaping the emotional fallout that would ensue.

As Rowan observed Snuggles snoozing away on her lap and considered possibly lying down for a while to catch a wink herself, she heard the sound of Len’s motorcycle pulling up the long driveway to the house. It was his vehicle of choice all year round and he took great care to make sure both he and his bike were outfitted properly for the winter months. Still, Rowan was relieved he’d made it home before the day’s snow had really started to accumulate.

Before long Len was in the door and stomping his boots free of snow. He took them and his parka off and then mounted the stairs up to the main room, smiling then at Rowan and asking what mischief she and Snuggles had been up to while he was out.

Rowan smiled back and answered with an easy, “Not much in the way of mischief going on here I’m afraid…mostly sleeping.” 

Len headed straight over to the couch and flopped down beside her. He rested an arm behind her, kissing Rowan tenderly on her temple and reaching out to gently pet Snuggles, who sleepily acknowledged him with another faint trilling sound. 

While the furry feline had jolted awake and raised her head at Len’s entrance, she was clearly tired enough that she was already well on her way back to kitty dreamland by the time he’d made it to the couch.

“So, how was Mick?” 

Rowan felt her nervousness humming beneath her skin as she psyched herself up to tell Len that she’d found the information he’d been searching for all these years. She fell back on small talk for the time being, hoping that the right moment would present itself before she lost her nerve for the difficult discussion ahead.

“Oh, Mick was Mick.” Len paused and smirked bemusedly. Rowan raised her eyebrows in question so he continued. “He seemed fine but even after all these years I still find it hard to tell what’s really going on with him.”

Len paused again and shook his head. “Seems your most… _puppy_ like colleague has decided to move to Central and Mick’s gotten it in his head that they should get an apartment together.”

“ _Puppy _like? You mean Ray? Ray and Mick are moving in together? Really?”__

__Len gave a quick nod and tilted his head. “First I thought Mick was just messing with me but…he does seem to have taken an odd liking to the guy. Never would have seen that coming before the whole Savage thing but…” Len stopped talking and looked thoughtful for a few moments. When he spoke again it was in a soft and pensive voice._ _

__“Maybe after all these years Mick’s as tired of being lonely and on the run all the time as I was. Maybe this will be a good change for him…like you’ve been for me.”_ _

__Len shot Rowan a genuine if somewhat lopsided smile. Rowan smiled back and kissed Len gently on the lips._ _

__“Well, I’m happy for Mick if he’s found someone he enjoys being around. I know Ray can be a bit…innocent at times but maybe that’s part of his appeal. He’s a good guy at heart so hopefully this will all work out well for both of them.”_ _

__“Hmmmm…hopefully.” Len scooted closer to Rowan and tilted his head so he could nuzzle her neck. She giggled as his shorn hair tickled her sensitive skin._ _

__Rowan was tempted to just go with the flow and let Len distract her indefinitely but she suddenly felt like if she didn’t take the bull by the horns and share the folder with him now, it would just be harder later. This was their first time alone together since she’d finished compiling and confirming all the details of her research and she didn’t feel it would be right to delay sharing them._ _

__She kissed Len’s neck a few times in kind but then took his hands in hers and rested her forehead against his._ _

__“Len…there’s something I want to share with you.” Rowan’s voice was soft and slightly hesitant. They parted their foreheads so they could meet each other’s eyes._ _

__Len smirked wickedly._ _

__“There’s something I want to share with you too.” Damn, he wasn’t making things any easier using that eternally sexy, husky drawl of his._ _

__Rowan smiled fondly but there was a touch of sadness in her eyes. Len picked up on that immediately and straightened, his shoulders suddenly registering tension where there had been none moments ago._ _

__“I’m sorry to bring this up now and ruin the mood but…I’m not sure there will ever be a good time so…I just don’t think I should hold onto what I’ve found out and not let you in on it.”_ _

__Rowan could tell her expression was one of nervousness and worry and Len responded with a look of intense concern. He swallowed noticeably and Rowan suddenly realised he might be imagining all manner of things that were in no way related to the matter at hand so she resolved she’d best explain herself promptly, lest Len have any time to envision even worse things than he was about to be made aware of._ _

__Rowan reached over to the end table and grabbed the blue folder. Len tracked her movements with his eyes. His expression had become unreadable but Rowan thought she might be detecting a look of genuine fear buried within his carefully controlled visage._ _

__Rowan gripped the folder in her hands and looked down at it gravely. Len’s eyes dropped down to regard the folder as well. Rowan took a deep breath and was about to speak when Len found his voice first._ _

__“Is that an ultrasound?”_ _

__Rowan was caught by surprise and her mouth fell open momentarily while she tried to gauge whether it was net hope or net terror she was seeing on Len’s face._ _

__“Ummm….no. It’s not an ultrasound.” Rowan exhaled nervously. “I’m not pregnant Len. We’re not pregnant. I…hope you’re not disappointed.”_ _

__Len immediately exhaled in relief and his eyes flicked away and then back to Rowan._ _

“Whew! No, I’m not disappointed. I don’t know if I’d ever be ready for _that_ …but I definitely don’t feel ready yet. Maybe someday but…” Len looked more relaxed than he had a few moments before but then his eyes moved to the folder again and took on a questioning edge.

__Rowan swallowed and hesitated just slightly. She knew what she was about to say would change things for Len in momentous ways he wasn’t currently expecting. She hoped she was doing the right thing by sharing what she’d found out. She took another deep breath and figured it really was now or never._ _

__Rowan’s voice was soft but she kept it steady. “Len…remember when you told me about how your mother just disappeared one day when you were a kid and you’d been trying over the years to find out what happened to her…and I said I’d look into the CCPD archives?”_ _

__Len suddenly became completely still and looked utterly stricken. Whatever he may have imagined Rowan might be about to tell him, this clearly hadn’t been it. She took another breath, feeling her nervousness increasing as she noted Len’s expression._ _

__“It’s up to you whether you want to know what I’ve found but…I’ve been working on this for a while and…everything is in this folder. If you do want to know what happened to your mother, it’s all in here, whenever you want to look at it. I mean if you ever do…” Rowan’s voice trailed off as she tried to interpret Len’s demeanour._ _

__He was still sitting motionless, his face now drawn into an unreadable mask. It wasn’t an expression of coldness so much as one of emptiness; not so much neutral but a complete absence of emotion…an absence of…anything._ _

__Moments ticked by and Rowan started to feel like her timing had been a mistake after all. The light-hearted mood Len had walked in with had completely evaporated, leaving in its wake a kind of airless, soundless void. Rowan felt terrible and she suddenly questioned whether her efforts over the last several months had perhaps been ill conceived._ _

__But then Len’s face broke. It was subtle yet profound all at once. His lips pursed slightly and his eyes took on a look of such deep sadness Rowan’s heart broke just looking at him._ _

__Len’s eyes flicked down to the folder in Rowan’s hands again._ _

__“She’s dead isn’t she?”_ _

__Rowan’s own eyes welled up with tears as she looked directly into Len’s._ _

__“I’m so sorry Len. She died the night she disappeared.”_ _

__Len looked away and then down for a few seconds and Rowan saw a single tear escape down his cheek before he quickly wiped it away._ _

__“Could you give me a few minutes Ro. Alone. With the file?”_ _

__“Of course.”_ _

__Rowan handed the folder over to Len who took it gingerly, as if it was something sacred. She picked Snuggles up as she rose to stand and glanced down at Len, who was still motionless as he stared down at the collected papers that appeared so very heavy in his hands._ _

__“I’ll just go for a walk and be back in an hour or so.” Rowan set Snuggles down on the floor and the sleepy kitty stretched out her front and back paws languorously before curling up again to continue her snoozing._ _

__“Okay.”_ _

__Rowan walked down to the door and put on her coat, boots, hat, scarf and mittens. Just as she was opening the door to leave Len spoke again in a soft voice._ _

__“Thank you Rowan.”_ _

__“You’re welcome Len. And I’m so sorry.”_ _

__~_ _

__Len flipped the last document over and carefully closed the folder. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly while leaning back on the couch._ _

__Finally he knew._ _

__Rowan had managed to uncover a lot more details than he’d ever thought would be possible to find after so many years and the story was even more sordid than he’d often imagined. Cold anger surged through his mind at the complicity of several of his father’s cop friends in helping to cover the whole thing up but he quickly pushed that aside to deal with later._ _

__For now he felt compelled to shift onto his side and lay his head down on a couch pillow, clutching the folder to his chest. He tucked his feet up and just lay there thinking on what he’d just learned about the last hours of his mother’s life…oh so many years ago now._ _

__All at once fierce emotions he’d not allowed himself to feel for decades welled up from within him and burst forth as he started to cry, then outright sob uncontrollably there alone on the couch. All the pain and loss and heartache he’d felt as a little boy when his beloved mother just up and disappeared one night leaving him and Lisa alone with their increasingly terrifying father came back like a bus hitting him and he reeled from the impact._ _

__After several minutes of the most raw, unfiltered, soulful weeping Len had ever experienced in his life, he began to catch his breath again and opened his eyes to see Snuggles sitting close by, peering up at him with a very concerned look on her face. She meowed quietly when their eyes met._ _

__He instinctively reached out to pet her head so as to reassure her. She took that as an invitation to jump up on the couch and curl up against his stomach, optimising what little area of the couch was available to her._ _

__Len smiled faintly in spite of himself. He gently caressed Snuggles’ head and behind her ears as she began to purr. He was still recovering from the incredible release of decades of pent up sadness and loss that had just erupted. He reached over to the side table for a Kleenex. He wiped at his eyes and blew his nose. Snuggles turned to look at him, still quite concerned about him it seemed._ _

__Len appreciated that Rowan had left him alone to deal with the initial onslaught of his grief but he was also grateful to have Snuggles there to comfort him and keep him company while he began to try and absorb this new information and reflect on what it all meant._ _

__He lay there on the couch, not moving, for what could have been a few minutes or a few hours. At some point he realised he was thoroughly exhausted and moved to the bedroom, not bothering to do more than take off his pants before getting under the covers. Snuggles followed him and took up a place curled up against the crook of his knees._ _

__Eventually he heard the front door open as Rowan returned from her walk. A while later she quietly entered the room. She stood at the doorway for a moment, wondering if Len would still want to be alone or not._ _

__Len turned his head to let her know he wasn’t asleep. He saw her cheeks were still slightly red from the cold outside and she had a sad look on her face._ _

__“Come lie with me?” Len didn’t want to be alone anymore._ _

__Rowan immediately approached the bed and got under the covers without removing any of her clothes. She put her arm around him and snuggled up against his back. He wrapped his arm around hers and held it close to his chest. Rowan kissed the side of his head and then settled her own head down on the pillow, leaning her forehead against the back of Len’s neck._ _

__For a few seconds they just lay like that. Rowan tightened her arm around Len as she thought of the torrent of emotions he must be feeling. She didn’t know if she should say anything or, if so, what that should be._ _

__“She didn’t leave us.”_ _

__Rowan was relieved to hear Len’s voice again, even in a whisper, and that he was sounding pretty much like himself, though more vulnerable than usual._ _

__“No, she didn’t leave you. She was taken from you.”_ _

__“Yes.” Len’s voice was soft and sad rather than angry. Rowan suspected the anger might come later._ _

__“Is it better knowing or…” Rowan needed to know in that moment if she’d done the right thing. She thought she had but part of her just wasn’t sure._ _

__“I’ve wanted to know where she went ever since that terrible morning I woke up and Lewis said she’d walked out on us. It’s definitely better knowing.”_ _

__Len sighed. Then he turned around to face Rowan, his eyes never more soulful and unfiltered as he met hers._ _

__“I mean, part of me wishes she’d gotten away and just couldn’t make it back for us for some reason but…at the same time I always thought she would have done anything to save us so…it hurts less in a strange way to know she didn’t come back because she couldn’t.”_ _

__“I get it.”_ _

__Len looked exhausted and Rowan sensed he needed rest so she encouraged him to get comfortable. They lay in silence, Rowan’s arm wrapped around him and just cuddling until he fell asleep, which only took a few minutes. She kept her arm wrapped tightly around him all night._ _

__~_ _

__It was a beautiful fall day, the drying grass carpeted with bright red, yellow and orange leaves and the sky painted with brilliant multi-hued clouds. Len, Lisa, Mick and Rowan were gathered around the newly erected grey and blue pearl stone in the loveliest corner of the cemetery closest to Central City’s westernmost boundary; closest to Len and Rowan’s house._ _

__It had taken several months to work through all the legal issues and paperwork to have Alisha Roxann Snart’s (née Hill) remains released for proper burial, at long last. A small memorial service had wrapped up a few minutes before and everyone else who’d been in attendance had dispersed._ _

__In the days and weeks after Len had learned of the violent fate his mother had suffered at his father’s hands, Rowan had done her best to comfort him and support him as he worked through how he wanted to deal with the revelations._ _

__In the end they had agreed that bringing the whole sad and corrupt story to light was unavoidable, even if it might cast some aspersions on Rowan’s unofficial use of the CCPD’s archived files._ _

__When Captain Singh was presented with all the evidence Rowan had uncovered, however, he showed no interest in pursuing any disciplinary actions against her. Instead he went about preparing an official apology to the Snart siblings and the public and launching an internal inquiry into past and any possible ongoing corruption at the CCPD that had allowed a cover up of such a reprehensible crime to occur._ _

__Len had always held a begrudging respect for the Captain, even when he’d been an unrepentant criminal, but that respect ratcheted up several notches based on Singh’s handling of the rather discouraging revelations that the institution he was currently in charge of had been, at a time prior to his leadership, even worse than he’d already known it had been._ _

__Len knew it wasn’t really fair that someone like David Singh should have to deal with the public fallout that rained down on the CCPD for the actions of corrupt crap-ass cops like his father and his friends had been but, as Rowan pointed out, that was why he got to be called ‘Captain’ and had the largest and nicest office in the precinct. Ultimately, the buck stopped with him._ _

__Once the DA and several other key law enforcement and judicial officials had reviewed the evidence, Singh held a press conference. The media was instantly all over the story, focusing on the CCPD corruption angle but also as a kind of chapter two of Captain Cold’s tragic family past, chapter one having been coverage of the events surrounding Len’s killing of his father._ _

__In all the exhaustive media coverage, however, the heart of the story, the loss of a vibrant young woman to murder at the hands of the man she was married to, seemed to have gotten lost._ _

__Len wasn’t about to let the maelstrom in the press distract him though. As he listened to the birds singing in the well treed cemetery, he felt a sense of resigned peace wash over him, knowing that at least the remains of his beloved mother were finally somewhere close by that he could visit._ _

__Rowan’s research had led them to the shallow grave on the other side of town where his father had hastily buried her so many years ago. Experts had carefully exhumed her remains and held them for examination and DNA verification before finally releasing them for proper burial._ _

__It had been a very difficult process emotionally for Len but also for Lisa, who had never gotten a chance to know their mother and had only the vaguest of hazy memories of her that she couldn’t even be sure were real._ _

__As they both stood in front of the smooth marble stone they’d chosen to mark her final resting place, Lisa slipped her hand into Len’s. He squeezed it and Lisa’s head fell against her brother’s shoulder as tears escaped down her cheeks. Mick was looking on sombrely and Rowan was fighting back tears of her own._ _

__Len had shared his plan with her that he wanted to erect an additional memorial somewhere nearby in his mother’s memory that would also commemorate all victims of domestic and sexual violence, and would also acknowledge ongoing racism and systemic oppression of various kinds._ _

__His mother wasn’t just a woman who had died at the hands of a man, but an African American who had been killed by a white man and whose murder had subsequently been covered up by a public institution steeped in corruption that often also served to support ongoing racism, sexism, classism and other forms of inequity._ _

__Len, Lisa and Mick had lived through and seen the consequences of all sorts of societal inequities up close and personal throughout their lives. Len wanted to honour his mother’s memory but also create something that might cause people to reflect on not just his mother’s individual experience but also all the systems in society that had helped enable his father to get away with everything he had._ _

__Len felt like his mother and grandfather would be proud of him for doing that. The thought filled him with a sense of being connected to them in a way that he hadn’t been able to feel in a very long time._ _

__He planned to commission a statue of a woman who resembled his mother, simply standing with her eyes focused on something ahead of her, like she was moving forward in her life in a way his mother didn’t get a chance to after having her life so brutally cut short. He would have to think more on the details and the words that would be inscribed on the accompanying plaque. Maybe Rowan, Lisa and Mick could all help with that._ _

__For now though, Len felt some satisfaction that the stone to mark his mother’s grave was elegant looking and a good size. It looked worthy of her. It was engraved with her name and dates and the simple epitaph:_ _

____

_Amazing woman_  
_Loving mother and daughter_  
_Taken too soon_

__As Len stood there, with his small but very close family around him, he hoped his mother would understand that he’d done his best in the life that had unfolded after she was gone. He had taken care of Lisa as best he could. He knew he’d gone down a dark path at some points but, as he glanced over at Rowan, he felt like he’d been given a second chance to lead the kind of life his mother would have wanted for him._ _

__He took a deep breath of the fresh fall air and looked down at Lisa. She met his eyes and wiped away another tear._ _

__“You ready to go?”_ _

__Lisa nodded. “We can come back any time right?”_ _

__“Yes…anytime.”_ _

__With that, the four figures turned and slowly walked away from the grave, the beautiful bouquets of flowers and potted flowering plants surrounding it destined to be frequently and faithfully maintained and replenished for many years and decades to come._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we're nearing the end of this journey. There's one chapter left, which is an epilogue so will be shorter than all the other chapters (but still reasonably long). Thanks to everyone who has read this far and thank you so much to all who have left kudos or a comment! I'll post the epilogue in a few days. Take care and stay safe out there! (:


	14. Epilogue – Friends and Lovers

Len’s first thought when he walked into his old safe house was…‘Wow’! 

The renovations were not quite what he’d expected but, as he and Rowan slowly descended the stairs into the main room and focused more closely on some of the details of the redesigned space, he could see how the tastes and tendencies of both of the men now living there were reflected and woven into a surprisingly unified, if eclectic, whole.

When Mick had asked him roughly a year ago if he’d be willing to sell his largest and most luxurious safe house, Len had agreed immediately. He’d been thinking of unloading the expensive and seldom used penthouse anyway and this way it would stay within his small and close circle.

Ray could easily have afforded it on his own but he and Mick split the cost down the middle and bought it outright. Then they’d embarked on a major reimagining of the space that had turned out pretty amazing, Len had to admit.

The piano and strangely located whirlpool had remained pretty much the same but the whole colour palette of the walls had changed, along with the layout of the entire common area. 

Apparently, the reason it had all taken so long was that Ray and Mick spent months going back and forth over every detail before finally moving forward and getting the work done.

The paint refresh had been sorely needed anyway and Len appreciated how most of the furniture had been retained but rearranged and interspersed with enough new additions that the room looked almost completely different.

Overall, the apartment now looked much more modern and streamlined (Ray’s influence, clearly) and simultaneously more homey, comfortable and lived in (Mick’s doing, obviously). 

“Wow! The place looks amazing!”

Rowan put to words exactly what Len had been thinking.

“Thanks Rowan!” Ray beamed as he took their spring jackets to hang them up. “I can’t believe we’re finally finished but…here it is! Can I give you a tour?” Ray’s eagerness underlined why he was so often associated with puppies.

“Something tells me you’ve been looking forward to this moment the entire time you’ve been renovating so I _suppose_ it would be cruel to say no.”

Len allowed some small bit of warmth into his otherwise put upon sounding drawl so that Ray wouldn’t end up pouting…and Mick wouldn’t get mad at him at the very beginning of the evening. For whatever reason, Mick had quickly become very protective of his thoroughly un-criminal-like housemate and brooked little attitude from Len directed at the man-puppy.

Mick was in the kitchen area cooking up a storm of delectable smelling dishes as Ray enthusiastically showed Rowan and Len around the whole penthouse, including the bedrooms. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ray’s looked like Martha Stewart had just inspected and Mick’s looked like a bomb had just exploded. The two men made for unusual housemates but apparently happy ones.

“Haircut! Get over here so you can taste test this…not sure if it needs more pepper!”

“Oh! Sorry! Just a second…the big guy calls.” Ray’s already substantial grin widened even further as he excused himself so he could run over to sample whatever savoury dish Mick was perfecting. Rowan and Len shared a look of fond amusement as they made their way back into the living room to try out the new couch.

“Hmmmm…comfy,” Len winked at Rowan as he settled in against the very appealing looking slate blue cushions and gestured with his head for her to try it out too. She obliged and sank down beside him. 

“Oh…this _is_ nice.”

“I know right?” Ray called excitedly from the kitchen. “Comfiest couch we could find. Looks great too!”

Len hummed in agreement as he spread and ran his fingers over the soft velvety covering. 

“Have to say, _love_ the blue and white theme you have going in this room.” Len’s tone and smirk were both smug as he glanced over toward the kitchen again.

Ray perked up to an even more excited level than before, as impossible as that seemed.

“Call it an _homage_!”

Len chuckled just as Mick piped up gruffly.

“It ain’t no such thing! We just liked those colours in this room. Don’t encourage him Haircut. Trust me.”

Rowan laughed heartily just as the doorbell rang.

Lisa and Cisco had arrived just a minute or two ahead of Barry, Iris, Joe and Wally so Ray was able to give them the whole tour all together. He was every bit as excited and enthusiastic as he’d been while showing Rowan and Len around.

Caitlin and Harry arrived about twenty minutes later and they got the same tour with all the same animated highlights.

One of the innovations Ray and Mick had made to the common space was to rearrange where the dining room table was placed so that there was room to put an extra leaf in so that it could seat up to 10 people, 12 in a pinch, if necessary. 

Once everyone was present and furnished with drinks, Mick served up an incredible meal of multiple mouth-watering dishes and copious amounts of scrumptious desserts. All the members of Team Flash registered various degrees of surprise and disbelief on their faces as they watched the formerly wanted thief and pyromaniac explain which dishes were gluten free (for Ray’s sake), which were vegetarian or vegan (for Rowan and Lisa’s sake) and which were neither. 

Some time after the take down of Vandal Savage, Mick had received an official pardon for all outstanding criminal warrants, as had Leonard and Lisa. It was a pretty unprecedented move on the part of the CCPD and other law enforcement agencies around the country, but there was a lot of public pressure brought to bear on the powers that be in light of how many establishment figures had been protecting Savage and how deep the corruption at the CCPD had gone, leading to Lewis Snart getting away with so much in his life, including the murder of his wife and long-term abuse of his children, even into adulthood.

The DA no longer had any appetite to prosecute Len for killing Lewis and all his previous records were still mysteriously missing. So Len, Mick and Lisa had all been given a new lease on life and, for the first time ever, also had people in their lives that could help them stay out of trouble.

Lisa and Cisco were still a relatively new couple and Len continued to squeeze every second of enjoyment he could out of pretending he didn’t approve of the match. Lisa knew he was full of it and that her big brother actually really admired the young, nerdy scientist but Len’s ribbing still succeeded at driving her crazy. Cisco’s ongoing strategy of mostly avoiding the erstwhile super villain while simultaneously attempting to convince him he was worthy of his younger sister was endlessly entertaining to Len. 

At some point in the evening after dessert, while the group had dispersed to get comfortable throughout the newly designed common area, Joe West of all people hesitantly approached Len with an uncharacteristically contrite expression on his face.

He made some feeble attempts at small talk but Len sensed there was something he wanted to get off his chest. Finally, the seasoned detective took a deep breath and looked Len directly in the eyes.

“Look, Snart…Leonard, I know we haven’t always been on friendly terms but…I just wanted to say I’m really sorry about what happened to your mother. I wasn’t at the CCPD at the time but I can tell you that things have gotten a lot better there from when I first started as a beat cop and I’m determined to help Singh clean up anything crooked that comes to light now.”

“I appreciate that Detective West.” 

Len reflected on what it must have been like for Joe West to start out at the CCPD, some time in the late 90s he guessed. He was still one of the few racialised cops there…one of very few African American cops Len had ever encountered in Central City. Based on what Rowan had told him about how she had been treated while working there, just on the basis of being a female cop, it probably still wasn’t easy a lot of the time.

“Well,” Joe cleared his throat. “You just, uh, let me know if you or your sister ever need anything, you know…?”

“Like a get out of jail free card you mean?” Len smirked provocatively.

Joe rolled his eyes and huffed. “You know what I mean Snart and that’s not it.”

“Of course detective. I _tease_.”

Len really did appreciate Joe’s condolences. He thought a lot about his mother these days; far more than he ever thought about his father. Lewis had taken up way too much of his mental space over the years so once he found out for certain that he’d killed his mom Len decided that he wouldn’t waste any more time on him. Instead he concentrated on his memories of his mother and grandfather, while also staying focused on the here and now.

The get together was a fairly low-key but enjoyable one and eventually things started to wind down, everyone making moves to help clean up and at least think about going home. 

“Wait, wait! Before anyone leaves!” Ray ran into his bedroom and emerged moments later, arms laden with “doggie bags” as he called them. He handed out the small gifts to all his guests, then insisted on a group photo to commemorate his and Mick’s first (and presumably only) housewarming party.

Ray set up his camera timer so he could jump into the shot as well. As over the top as Ray’s enthusiasm could sometimes seem, everyone was in great spirits as they collected their coats and took their leave.

“Oh, and keep your calendars clear for the second weekend in June! Mick and I are thinking of inviting the rest of the Legends to our first big barbecue bash and, believe me, you won’t want to miss that!”

Rowan and Len shot each other quizzical looks, Len taking it upon himself this time to ask the obvious follow up question.

“ _Legends_ Raymond?”

“Yeah! It’s what I call all of us who took down Savage! I mean you’ve got to admit…it was pretty _legendary_!” Ray grinned triumphantly at his fledgling attempt at punning. Mick snickered and shook his head. Ray continued. “It will be so much fun to get the whole gang back together, don’t you think!”

Rowan laughed out loud while everyone agreed it _would_ be a lot of fun to see all the other agents again. Cisco even reminded Ray to make sure he invited Hartley, seeing as he hadn’t been able to make it to the housewarming party. ‘Those two really have come a long way,’ Len reflected.

With all manner of ‘good nights’ and ‘see you soons’ exchanged, everyone left Mick and Ray to enjoy their newly remodelled home. 

When Len and Rowan arrived back at their place in the country, they were exuberantly greeted by the newest addition to their little family with only slightly more excited energy than Ray consistently displayed.

Recently, they’d adopted a beautiful young husky from the main Central City dog shelter. Thankfully, she and Snuggles got along famously. Sometimes it seemed as if the young pup thought she was a cat and Snuggles was her mommy. Snuggles, for her part, tolerated the dog’s youthful energy good-naturedly and seemed to enjoy the company and affection, within reason of course.

They’d been tempted to name the pup ‘Ray’, largely to irritate Mick, but decided it was a little too on the nose so went with ‘Rogue’ instead (nick name, Captain Paws). Rogue was still perhaps a touch obvious but it was also a riff on Len’s nickname for Rowan, which could occasionally get confusing because the two words sounded so much alike. So they often just ended up calling the adorable canine ‘Paws’. 

As Rowan and Len settled down for the night in their comfy bed with Snuggles sound asleep in one corner and Rogue stretched out on the floor next to the bed, sighing contentedly, they cuddled together and happily reviewed the highlights of the evening.

“Well that was fun…and slightly weird at times.” Rowan smiled up at Len as he organised the sheets around them and then reached over to turn off the bedside lamp.

“Hmmmm. Agreed on both points. Mick seems genuinely happy though and, well, when is the Boy Scout ever _not_ happy?”

“You even managed not to tease him too much tonight.” Rowan giggled as Len snuggled against her and gently kissed her temple, then her lips.

Len’s voice was low and husky when he replied. “I guess I wasn’t in much of a _teasing_ mood.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Rowan’s reply was equally soft and breathy. 

One kiss turned into two, then several. From there, things escalated quickly and before long they were wrapped around each other like entangled vines, enjoying the intense passion that ignited between them and lost in the comfortable bliss of finding home in each other’s arms.

Rowan was enjoying the feeling of having Len’s arms wrapped tightly around her afterward when she thought of a question. 

“I’m just curious about something Len.”

“Hmmm? What’s that Ro?”

“When did you first know you had feelings for me?”

Len kissed the top of Rowan’s head and exhaled softly. “Hmmm…I guess it was when you let me into your apartment that night I was shot, no questions asked, and took such good care of me and saved my life. Yeah…I’d say that was a major turning point in my feelings for you…or at least my conscious awareness of my feelings for you.”

“Hmmm…interesting.”

“Though, if I’m honest, I’d already started to get the _hots_ for you before then.”

Rowan could feel a devilish smirk form on Len’s lips against her temple.

“The _hots_ huh? So…when did you first start finding me attractive then?”

Len thought for a few seconds. “I think it was the moment you pulled my cold gun on me. Yeah…looking back, that was super hot.” Len chuckled.

“Seriously?” Rowan glanced up at Len sceptically. “ _That_ was a turn on for you?”

“I _told_ you…I happen to like strong women.”

Rowan smiled and peered up at Len again. “Hm. I guess that turned out the be an even smarter move on my part than I realised at the time.”

Len kissed the top of Rowan’s head again and continued smirking. “Guess so. I’m just lucky you have a thing for sexy bad boys or I might have been out of luck.”

Rowan huffed. “I’ve told you a million times I don’t have a thing for bad boys, sexy or otherwise! I just…got to know you over time and fell for _you_ , not your persona. Geez!”

Len laughed out loud at that, pleased that he could still get a rise out of Rowan so easily after all this time. They cuddled in closer, continuing to banter back and forth before finally settling down.

They’d been together for a few months shy of two years now, which shocked them both when they thought about it. 

Len had been taking some time to try and figure out what he wanted to focus on going forward after completing the memorial project for his mother. It had been unveiled a few weeks earlier and had been sensitively covered by both local and some national media.

After some reflection, Len found himself seriously contemplating transforming a few of his safe houses into youth shelters or centres where vulnerable young people could get off the street and have a safe place to go and access services. He’d discussed the idea with Rowan and she was enthusiastically on board. 

They’d agreed the safe house where they’d had their first major confrontation was a good candidate for their first attempt at setting something up. They’d have to hire staff of course but Len had plenty of resources for that, especially after having sold the penthouse to Ray and Mick.

Rowan was still helping out Team Flash whenever they asked and was also consulting here and there with the CCPD’s newly established anti-human trafficking unit. She was seriously considering joining it at Captain Singh’s request, though Len cautioned she should make sure she’d had enough of a rest first before jumping back into anything too intense too soon.

For the first time in their lives, they felt like they not only had choices about what they did professionally but they could afford to make those choices on their own time and on their own terms. They both appreciated that freedom and security immensely.

Mostly though, they savoured the time they got to spend together. Rowan felt like it had finally truly sunk in for Len that she wasn’t going anywhere and genuinely wanted to be with him for the long haul and she revelled in the conviction that he felt the same.

Len noticed that Rowan was finally opening up to him about more of her past life experiences before they met, as well as her most closely guarded thoughts and feelings about all sorts of things, and it pleased him immensely that they were growing closer all the time. His own walls were almost non-existent with her anymore and that led to a feeling of connectedness he cherished every day.

Len’s tendency toward sleepless nights had eased up and he no longer found himself lying awake in the wee hours, instead sleeping soundly, wrapped in the arms of the woman he’d come to love so deeply. 

And that’s how they drifted off together as the cool spring night enveloped the woods on the edge of Central City and the moonlight cast dancing shadows all around their country home.

If there were any dreams of desperate chases or narrow escapes at any point, they were accompanied by the sleepy whines and twitching feet of a sweet natured cat or a lovable young dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it everyone! Thank you again so, so much for reading this story! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and the entire journey. If you want, please let me know what you thought of the whole thing in the comments. Take care everyone and stay safe!!!! (:(:(:(:

**Author's Note:**

> Comments welcome, respectfulness very much appreciated. (:


End file.
